Media Advisory: Net neutrality activists plan protests in more than a thirty cities today opposing “hybrid” FCC proposal that fails to protect basic rights
Media Advisory
November 6, 2014
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Email: press@fightforthefuture.org
Evan Greer, Fight for the Future, 978-852-6457
Kevin Huang, Fight for the Future, 510-648-5048
Margaret Flowers, PopularResistance.org – 410-591-0892
Net neutrality activists organize protests at White House and nationwide, opposing FCC’s leaked “hybrid” proposal, demanding real net neutrality
Civil liberties, tech policy, and free speech groups have called for nationwide emergency protests to oppose proposal reported in WSJ that would open the door for Cable company censorship and abuse
On Thursday, November 6th, net neutrality activists will protest in front of the White House in Washington, DC and in at least a dozen other cities across the country to demand that the FCC and the White House drop their proposal for “hybrid” net neutrality rules that fail to protect Internet users from censorship and discrimination.
Inspired by successful mass protests against an unpopular Internet Tax in Hungary, demonstrators will hold their cell phones, laptops, and tablets above their heads as a symbol of protest, and shine light on the corruption unfolding in Washington, DC.
See an updated map and list of protests planned here: https://battleforthenet.com
WHAT: Nationwide Emergency Protests for net neutrality
WHEN: November 6, 2014, 6PM EST, CST, MT and PST, depending on locality.
WHERE: The White House, Lafayette Park, Washington, DC;
And more than 30 other cities including:
MA State House, Boston, MA;
Comcast HQ, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Minnesota State Capitol, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota;
Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco, CA;
Federal Building, Cincinnati, OH;
Federal Plaza, Chicago, IL
City Hall, Houston, TX
Federal Court House, Las Vegas, NV
Capitol Building, Austin, TX
At&T Building, Worcester, MA
Park Square, Asheville, NC
WHY: To demand that the FCC drop its leaked proposal for corrupt, discriminatory “fastlanes” and listen to the 4 million Americans and thousands of businesses who’ve called for real net neutrality through Title II reclassification.
VISUALS: Group of open Internet advocates holding cellphones, laptops, flashlights, candles; White House and other government buildings in other cities. In DC there will be a light up sign reading “SAVE THE INTERNET.”
WHO: The protests are supported by Fight for the Future, PopularResistance.org, Free Press, Demand Progress, reddit, and several other grassroots organizations in collaboration with millions of online supporters.
BACKGROUND: Nearly 4 million Americans (alongside companies like Reddit, Tumblr, Netflix, and Google) have spoken out against discriminatory fastlanes and for real net neutrality. September’s #InternetSlowdown protest rallied over 40,000 websites and drove 312,000 calls to Congress and more than 700,000 comments to the FCC. But last week, news leaked in the Wall Street Journal that the FCC was planning to do the exact opposite: enshrine paid fastlanes in law, giving cable companies power over the open Internet. The current FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is a former cable & telecom industry lobbyist. Obama, who appointed Wheeler, has promised net neutrality from the campaign trail in 2008 to as recently as weeks ago. But the Obama administration has yet to reign in Wheeler’s plan to hand his former employers legal power over America’s Internet. Internet users are well organized after several mass online actions, and are preparing escalating responses leading up to the FCC’s final decision in the coming weeks.
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Fight for the Future works to excite the Internet to fight for the public good, our basic rights and freedoms. Founded in 2011, we’re known for effective, viral organizing and mass engagement through the distributed organizing platforms we’ve built, including the SOPA protests in the winter of 2011-2012 and the Internet Defense League. For more information, visit www.fightforthefuture.org or our Facebook and Twitter pages.