There’s been a major development over the past 24 hours: another member of Congress just came out in support of the House Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal.
This is a big deal and could help push other lawmakers do the same, but we have to act fast because the deadline is just over a week away.
We’ve been fighting for months without seeing any movement in Congress, watching the clock ticking down to the deadline. But Rep Joe Morelle (NY-25) his support for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution could change that.
If we act fast, we can leverage this new momentum to unleash a small landslide of other representatives coming out for net neutrality before the December 10th deadline, which will make a huge difference in the battles ahead.
Your voice matters. As part of today’s Internet-wide day of action, thousands of others are speaking out, along with celebrities, musicians, and websites like Tumblr, Postmates and Etsy.
You can join them and show your support for net neutrality by submitting an ‘I support net neutrality’ photo. We will be flooding lawmakers’ social media feeds with pictures, so if they decide to vote against the open Internet we will make them look us in the eye as they do it.
We can’t let this deadline come and go without making Congress remember that the whole Internet is watching. We’re still fighting for net neutrality. And we won’t forget if they betray us.
Tell everyone you know to take action at DeadlineForNetNeutrality.com and spread the word any way you can. Click here to find ideas on how you can use your slice of the Internet – whether that’s your Tumblr blog, a website you run, or any of your social media accounts – to help get the word out. We’re counting on you!
Tumblr, we know you’ve been fighting valiantly to restore net neutrality. Whether you added widgets to your Tumblrs, or reblogged posts to spread the word to your followers, or contacted your reps asking them to keep the internet free and open as we know it—you’re helping. You’re doing it. Let’s keep that momentum up.
BattleForTheNet.com (@fight4future) is letting Congress know that the internet is keeping score of every Congressperson who is and is not supporting the restoration of net neutrality.
Right now you can visit that scoreboard and easily look up whether or not your reps support the Congressional Review Act resolution.
This CRA will restore the net neutrality rules the FCC dismantled back in November 2017. They have 177 signatures, but need 44 more. You can help make that happen. This grassroots effort is working. Just two days ago Rep. Mike Coffman listened to his constituents from Colorado and became the first Republican to support the Democrat-led CRA. Keep putting that same pressure on your congresspeople. Urge them to sign the petition. If your congressperson has already pledged to support the CRA, reblog this post, add the new widget to your Tumblr (just copy and paste the small line of code from Battle For The Net right into the customize theme page on the web), and shout out what’s happening on all of your social media accounts. We have to spread the word.
Keep going, Tumblr. This matters, and you’re making a marked difference.
“Keeping the internet open is critical for us. It powers social movements, and provides a global platform for people of color, LGBTQ folks and the most marginalized communities to tell their own stories, run their own businesses and route around powerful gatekeepers.”—Candace Clement, Free Press Action Fund Campaign Director via @fight4future
Starting today, June 11, U.S. internet providers will be legally allowed to censor and block websites and apps, and force you to pay extra fees to to access your favorite places online. Your internet sanctuaries, the communities you are part of, the ones you have help build up, could be decimated.
Will it happen today? No. Next week? Probably not. The changes will not be swift. They will come piece by piece. A slow, tempered death to the free and open internet we love.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can still make a difference, Tumblr. We need the House of Representatives to sign a discharge petition in support of the Congressional Review Act that would force a vote on the floor.
It’s so easy. Just go to BattleForTheNet.com, fill out the form, and follow their directions from there.
They have an updated widget for you to throw on your websites to urge others to make a difference. You can put it on your Tumblr. Let your followers know what you stand for, encourage them to do the same. It’s so easy to do. Just copy and paste their small line of code right into the customize theme page on the web.
Go, go, go, go. We know you have that passion in you. We’re fighting right alongside you.
I’d also like to add (and probably should have) that the fight is far from over:
“Still, today’s vote means the proposal will have to go the House where Democrats will need to convince 25 Republicans to support net neutrality in order for the measure to pass—and they have until January of next year to do it.”
So you have two options: Continue to pressure your House reps to support Net Neutrality or vote them out for someone who does (if their seat is up).
Last December, the FCC voted to to kill net neutrality. If we do not take action, this will kill the free and open internet as we know it. The internet needs you—all of you—to make sure your voices are heard NOW.
We need all hands on deck for this one. It may be our last chance. If you’re feeling under-informed and overwhelmed about why net neutrality is so incredibly important, we have this handy guide just for you.
Here’s what you can do to save the internet:
In mid-May, the Senate will vote on a resolution to overrule the FCC using the Congressional Review Act (CRA). We only need one more vote in the Senate to win.Write or call your Senators or Representatives. You can also text BATTLE to 384-387 to get more information on how to write to your reps. You can do this, Tumblr.
Join us and dozens of your other favorite companies like Etsy, Vimeo, Reddit, and GitHub to raise awareness with the Red Alert campaign being run by Battle for the Net. Just add this small widget to your Tumblr to let your followers know how they can contact their reps. It’s as easy as copying and pasting the small line of code right into the customize theme page on the web.
This is important. This matters. It’s up to you to help.
The aid I just spoke with for my Republican Rep was really nice and asked if I had any comments to pass along to her
EMPHASIZE THE FCC SHOULD NOT SET THE PRECEDENT THAT THEY CAN JUST DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH NO OVERSIGHT
I know you guys don’t wanna talk to people, god knows I didn’t want to either but for the good of us all, CALL THEM
BE HEARD
They can’t say ‘these are fake’ the way the FCC did
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#BOOST THIS
i dont live in the USA but i have friends that do so i’ll reblog the shit out of this for you guys
IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN THE USA AND YOU STILL HAVE NET NEUTRALITY THIS AFFECTS YOU TOO.
IF THE USA REPEALS NET NEUTRAILY THE COMPANIES IN YOUR COUNTRY WILL LIKELY WANT TO FOLLOW SUIT AND SAY “IF AMERICA CAN CHARGE FOR CONTROLLING THE INTERNET, WHY SHOULDNT WE?”
SO EVEN IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE OF AMERICA REBLOG FOR YOUR AMERICAN FOLLOWERS TO CALL THEIR REPS!!!
For all of you being childish and sharing memes about how the
internet will be the same if Net Neutrality is repealed; that isn’t the
issue here. The issue is that 83% of the ENTIRE population was against
this happening, yet it happened anyways.
The issue was that Ajit
Pai was a former Verizon employee who was paid over $100 million from
the telecom cooperation’s to repeal this, along with his two
constituents. The issue is that the fate of the entire country was
decided by 5 rich people and did not allow any hearing from the public.
The issue is that there were over 2 million identities stolen
(including the identity of dead people) to post comments in favor of
repealing Net Neutrality, 1.9 million of them which were confirmed fake
and have legal investigation cases being opened on them for being fraud
as well as identity theft.
The issue is that they were asked to
halt this vote because of the illegal happenings so that they could have
time to investigate it, INCLUDING Republican’s, and they were denied.
The issue is that when giving their ‘reasons’ as to why they thought
repealing it was needed, they gave no VALID reasons and did not even
acknowledge any of the reasons that the public was worried. In
extension, they made no attempts to quell them, they just called us
stupid. Instead they all made jokes and laughed, turning themselves into
the victims for being rightfully criticized for being sellouts.
The issue is that they constantly poked fun at how idiotic they thought
we were acting, even though we have legitimate, valid concerns. Even
though we’re mostly concerned about those of us who have our
livelihood’s of our businesses on the line, they instead pointed fun
saying ‘we can still watch cat videos and share memes’ (legit something
that was actually said in their ‘argument’ yesterday). And that was
literally all they said. The issue is that there wasn’t even a ‘debate’,
despite the corruption being brought to everyone’s attention, and the
evidence of the American people not wanting this.
The issue is
that this sets the stance that we are willing to let the cooperation’s
or anyone with money do whatever the fuck they want and get away with
it. This issue is more than just internet freedom. It’s about democracy.
And if you can’t see that, you’re beyond help. #SaveNetNeutrality
The FCC voted to repeal Net Neutrality, but I would like to reiterate to all of you that now is not the time to panic. It’s time to get angry and active, but not time to panic.
Clickbait sites are painting today as the definitive “end” of it all, but it’s not. This shit’s still got to go through the courts.
The FCC has tried to repeal net neutrality twice before, and both times it got repealed by the courts.
The voting public’s support for Net Neutrality is overwhelming. Last I checked, 83% of polled voters nationwide are in support of Net Neutrality staying.
Republican politicians and lawmakers are aware of this overwhelming support and have been voicing their support as well.
Doug Jones victory in Alabama was a wake-up call for Republican politicians, letting them know they are not invincible.
Join the millions of Americans making their voices heard. Contact your representatives. Call them. Email them. Tweet at them. Anything you can do helps. Use the links provided on this website:
I’ve already commented on one post, but I can’t with a clean conscience sit by without making my own.
I see so many posts about Net Neutrality, and while I think it’s tremendous how many of you are emailing the FCC, some of those emails aren’t going to change minds.
Some of you are emailing the chairman himself. Ajit Pai was a former Verison employee. It doesn’t matter how many emails you send to him. You could literally tell him that you depend on the Internet’s resources to live, and he would not bat an eye.
Many of you are putting in your emails that hospitals and schools will see troubles. I appreciate the effort, but when these men are the very same men who have already taken SO MUCH from hospitals and schools, will they?
What you NEED to do, is speak their language. That language is dollar signs. Make your voice sound like MONEY THEY WILL BE LOSING.
We live in a nation where restaurants are failing because no one can afford a $20 meal anymore. What makes the FCC think we can afford more than $60 Internet? E-commerce is essential to the US economy. If users are forced to go through paywall after paywall, they will STOP purchasing anything off the Internet. The nosedive in stocks will be the likes of nothing you’ve ever seen.
Without the freedom to choose which websites we visit, the internet, for many of you on Tumblr like me, will become virtually meaningless. Make THAT the message you spread to these two “Yes votes.” Tell them that if the Internet becomes just like cable TV, which none of us are able to afford, they will LOSE the few dollars we have.
They’ll be interested in hearing that.
These are the emails of the two FCC members voting “yes” on the repeal of NN. If anyone’s mind is going to be changed. It has to be one of these guys. And it has to be before December 14th.
Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov
Mike.O’Rielly@fcc.gov
If we speak their language, there may still be hope. Good luck, everyone.
CaptainBubblebath 