Fight for the Future statement on big telecoms suing to block California net neutrality bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2018
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Trade groups representing essentially the entire broadband industry have joined the Federal Government’s lawsuit to block California’s gold standard net neutrality law, SB 822.

Fight for the Future, a digital rights group that played a key role in getting the California bill passed with strong bipartisan support, issued the following statement, which can be attributed to Deputy Director, Evan Greer (pronouns: she/her):

“Big telecom companies hate the California net neutrality bill because it prevents them from screwing over their customers more than they already do.

It’s no surprise that they’re suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. No one wants their cable company to be able to charge extra fees or control what websites they visit and what apps they use.

The lawsuits also underscore the fact that Congress needs to do its job and pass the resolution to reverse the FCC’s repeal. Until that happens, we’ll fight to defend the California law, and push for other states to follow suit.”

SB 822 is widely regarded as the best state-level net neutrality bill in the country. That’s why AT&T and Verizon fought so hard, even managing to gut the bill in committee in June. But after howls of outrage online from the grassroots, the bill later passed with all the key protections Since California is the world’s fifth leading economy, SB 822 has implications for the entire nation. Its passage with bipartisan support is expected to bolster efforts in Congress to reverse the FCC’s repeal using the Congressional Review Act (CRA.)

Giant Internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast poured enormous amounts of money into lobbying and misinformation campaigns to stop SB 822 and managed to gut it once in committee. They funded astroturf front groups, who targeted seniors with misleading robocalls, and ran outrageous Twitter ads generating tweets targeting California assembly members that look like they’re from real constituents.

Fight for the Future recently launched VoteForNetNeutrality.com, an explosive national level campaign focused on pressuring lawmakers to sign on to the CRA resolution ahead of the midterm elections.

###