Net Neutrality Activists Launch “DemsAgainstThe.Net” to Call Out the Handful of Remaining Democrats in Congress who Have Chosen Telecom Hush Money Over Net Neutrality Protections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 5, 2018
CONTACT:  Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

New website highlights 17  House Democrats who have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from ISPs and so far refused to sign the Congressional Review Act Discharge Petition to restore net neutrality. 

Digital rights group Fight for the Future has launched DemsAgainstThe.Net, a new website shining a spotlight on the remaining Democratic members of Congress who are putting telecom giants’ interests ahead of their constituents. Despite millions of people speaking out in the past year, countless polls showing that the overwhelming majority of voters support Net Neutrality, and every other Democrat in Congress jumping on board, a handful of Democrats in the House continue to stand in the way of Congress overturning the FCC’s repeal.

“It’s hard to think of a more nauseatingly clear example of the corrupting influence of telecom money in our democracy. These Democrats have no excuse: their constituents want them to support real net neutrality and the entire rest of their party has already done so. Do they really want to be seen as more beholden to corporate interests than the three Republican Senators who voted for the CRA?  We’re putting these congress members on notice and sending a clear message: The Internet never forgets.” said Evan Greer, Deputy Director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her). “It’s clear that these Congress members are deep in the pockets of lobbyists at big ISPs like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T. These telecoms have given them hundreds of thousands of dollars in “campaign donations.’ If they want to sell out their constituents’ right to Internet freedom we will hold them accountable.”

These holdout Democrats’ names remain off of the discharge petition for the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which would force a vote in the House of Representatives, to follow the lead of the Senate and overturn the FCC’s gutting of net neutrality protections. Congress has until December 10 to pass the CRA. While this is the strongest way to reinstate net neutrality protections this year, Internet freedom organizers will continue the fight even if Congress fails us.

For more information, or for interviews with a Fight for the Future representative, please contact Evan Greer at 978-852-6457 or by email at press@fightforthefuture.org.

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Fight for the Future is a community of millions of people whose mission is to ensure that the web continues to hold freedom of expression and creativity at its core. We seek to expand the internet’s transformative power for good, to preserve and enhance its capacity to enrich, and empower. We envision a world where everyone can access the internet affordably, free of interference or censorship and with full privacy.