In 2014-15, a broad social movement won net neutrality, but that victory was taken away by the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, under the Trump administration. President Biden, promising to restore net neutrality, appointed a favorable chairperson, Gigi Sohn, but his administration and Democrats in Congress failed to defend her from a successful attack by the Telecommunications industry. Clearing the FOG speaks with Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, about the current campaign to push for a new FCC commissioner, what is behind the assault on Tik Tok, including a dangerous piece of legislation called the RESTRICT Act, and how corporations are using facial recognition technology for their own agendas.
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Guest:
Evan Greer is a trans/genderqueer activist singer/songwriter, parent, and organizer based in Boston. She writes and performs high-energy acoustic songs that inspire hope, build community, and incite resistance! Evan tours internationally as a musician and speaker, and facilitates interactive workshops to support movements for justice and liberation. Wielding an arsenal of fiercely radical songs that vary in style from pop-punk poetry to foot-stompin’ bluegrass singalongs, Evan has been honored to collaborate, tour, and share stages with artists as musically diverse as Pete Seeger, Against Me!,Talib Kweli, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Against Me!, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Michael Stipe (REM), Amanda Palmer, Immortal Technique, Kimya Dawson, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Hari Kondabolu, Billy Bragg, Pamela Means, Anti-Flag, Downtown Boys, The Coup, Anne Feeney, Oi Polloi, Dispatch, Dirty Projectors, Screaming Females, and Chumbawamba. She’s currently the campaign director for Fight for the Future, the viral digital rights nonprofit behind the largest online protests in history. Evan writes regularly for The Guardian Time, Newsweek, and HuffPost, has been a guest on Good Morning America and All Things Considered, and has been interviewed about her music activism by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, TIME Magazine, Pitchfork, NBC News, Billboard, the Wall Street Journal, Spin Magazine, CBS News, Washington Post, Democracy Now!, The Atlantic, The Nation, CNN, Mother Jones, and even Fox News.