RIP Net Neutrality: 3 Groups Working to Save the Internet
Get used to watching the pinwheel-of-death spin and spin and spin....
Net neutrality, the gatekeeper to a free and open Internet, is now officially dead.
Remember back in December when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal net neutrality? Well, as of June 11, that policy change is now in effect.
This means “the cablization” of online access may soon be upon us as service providers consider ways to turn the Internet into a tiered system (this Vox explainer describes how that would happen). But there’s still time before Internet speeds are divided into fast and slow lanes. These three groups are working to make sure that doesn’t happen at all.
Free Press
Founded in 2003 with the mission of keeping the Internet free and open, the Free Press has several explainers on net neutrality and how we can still save it:
Pressure the House of Representatives: The U.S. Senate has already paved the way for Congress to reverse the net neutrality repeal. Now it’s up to the House. Sign this petition addressed to your House representative.
Get on your soapbox: Free Press urges letters to the editors of local newspapers. Your elected officials read the news in your town.
Ask for some face time: Tell lawmakers to their face that you’re outraged over the net neutrality repeal by scheduling an in-person meeting at their district office. Free Press has a sample letter to help frame your request. Or, you can just show up unannounced. Here are some tips on doing so.
Fight for the Future
Fight for the Future has worked for freedom of expression on the web since 2011. Their current campaign, Battle for the Net, is focused on preventing the doomsday of net neutrality:
Spread the word: Battle for the Net makes it easy to draw attention to the fight for net neutrality by changing your avatars on social media.
Leverage local businesses: Small businesses will inevitably be impacted by the loss of net neutrality, but they also have unique political influence with pro-business lawmakers. Encourage local business owners to sign this petition or call members of Congress using this script to fight changes to the Internet that would harm their growth.
Find out where your member of Congress stands: Fight for the Future is responsible for more than 18 million phone calls, emails and messages sent to Congress. They also keep a scoresheet of lawmakers and their varying support of net neutrality, broken down into two groups: Red stands for Team Cable, Blue stands for Team Internet (you get the picture).
Electronic Frontier Foundation
EFF was founded in 1999 to fight for free speech in technology. They are currently focusing attention on California’s net neutrality bill, which is fast becoming a model for states fighting the FCC’s net neutrality repeal.
How to support SB 822: The California state Senate passed SB 822, a pro-net neutrality bill, on Wednesday. Now it heads to the Assembly and EFF wants you to help make that happen. If passed, the bill could lead to a groundswell of other states moving to protect Internet freedom. That, or as the Verge explains, it could also lead to a bunch of lawsuits.
