FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2018
Contact: Mark Stanley, [email protected], 202.681.7582
Today California Senators Scott Wiener and Kevin de Leon, and Assemblymembers Rob Bonta and Miguel Santiago announced state legislation implementing the strongest net neutrality protections in the country. The following statement is attributable to Robert Cruickshank, Demand Progress Campaigns Director:
“This is a big win for forty million Californians, who stood up to a steady stream of misinformation from telecoms and big ISPs and mobilized to make sure legislators pass the strongest net neutrality protections of any state in the country.
“California is the world’s fifth largest economy and home to the globe’s most important tech companies. Restoring net neutrality protections in the Golden State is a major win for a free and open internet. Passage of this bill will also give huge new momentum to the effort to get the U.S. House of Representatives to follow the U.S. Senate and restore the net neutrality protections the FCC gutted last winter.
“SB 822 is one of the most important pieces of legislation to come out of Sacramento this year. It will serve as a national model for how states can save net neutrality as we work to get Congress to overturn the FCC and restore the 2015 Open Internet Order. SB 822 will prohibit ISPs from blocking content, slowing certain sites or services, or charging new fees for users and companies to reach audiences online.
“Demand Progress members in California made thousands of calls to urge the Senate and the Assembly to pass SB 822. We made it very clear to legislators that we would not accept efforts to water down this bill, and our members are very pleased that Senators and Assemblymembers have been able to come together to advance SB 822 with the key protections in place that will preserve a free and open internet.”
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