Angry Internet users will demand that members of Congress oppose Verizon-controlled FCC’s attack on the open web
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2017
Media contacts:
-NYC and national: Mark Stanley, [email protected], 202.681.7582
-Washington, DC: Pierce Stanley, [email protected], 202.350.0454
Internet users outraged by Verizon-lawyer-turned-FCC-Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to gut net neutrality are planning more than 700 protests at Verizon stores and Congressional offices in all 50 states today, December 7th, one week before an expected vote at the FCC.
Yesterday, a group of 150+ prominent artists endorsed the protests including Michael Stipe (REM), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Alyssa Milano, Wil Wheaton (Star Trek), Amanda Palmer, and Graham Nash.
The protests will highlight Verizon’s role lobbying to kill rules that prevent telecom giants from charging extra fees, engaging in censorship, or controlling what Internet users see and do through discriminatory throttling. Protesters will carry signs calling on their members of Congress to speak out against Verizon’s attacks on net neutrality and publicly oppose the FCC’s plan, which is expected to be released this week.
See the website announcing the protests here: VerizonProtests.com
The original call for protests included only about a dozen cities, but so many people stepped up to organize them that there are now more than 700 on the map.
The December 7 protests represent growing grassroots backlash to the FCC’s plan, which polls show is wildly unpopular with people from across the political spectrum. The events are supported by Team Internet, a grassroots network of nearly half a million volunteer activists spearheaded by Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, and Free Press Action Fund, three of the groups behind the massive July 12 net neutrality day of action that drove millions of comments, emails, and phone calls to the FCC and Congress. Over recent months the groups behind the protests have organized thousands of constituents to attend more than 600 town halls and meetings with lawmakers to demand their support for net neutrality. A phone call campaign through BattleForTheNet.com has generated nearly 800,000 phone calls to legislators’ offices. At the protests participants will be encouraged to take a group photo and tweet it at their local members of Congress.
Protests are currently planned in Phoenix, Denver, San Francisco, New York City, Indianapolis, Miami, Boston, Seattle, and hundreds of other cities and towns across the country. They’re being organized by volunteers in a grassroots manner using email, texting, and social media. Local Internet users can volunteer to host a protest, and then connect with other volunteers in their area and encourage them to attend.
“Americans are sick and tired of lawmakers placing the profits of monopolistic companies like Verizon and Comcast above the interests of ordinary people,” said Mark Stanley, Director of Communications for Demand Progress. “Outside Washington, support for strong net neutrality is widespread, regardless of political affiliation. Now, with what would be a catastrophic vote by the FCC to repeal net neutrality looming, people are ready to take to the streets in protest and to offer Congress one last chance to answer the question: ‘Do you stand for your constituents’ ability to communicate and connect, or do you stand for Verizon’s bottom line?’”
“This is the kind of corruption that turns your stomach,” said Fight for the Future Campaign Director Evan Greer. “This is why people are protesting at hundreds of Verizon stores and congressional offices across the country on Thursday, and why close to a million people have called Congress. Under Pai’s leadership, the FCC has made a mockery of our democratic process. With a rogue FCC commissioner blatantly captured by the industry he’s supposed to provide oversight for, Congress must do their job and take action to stop the FCC vote on Dec. 14,” she added.
“While FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been busy meeting with industry lobbyists and greedy Verizon executives, he should not ignore the millions of people who are joining together to reject his plan to kill off Net Neutrality,” said Free Press Action Fund Field Director Mary Alice Crim. “People in almost every state across the country have been meeting with hundreds of members of Congress and their staff, organizing others in their communities, and speaking out on behalf of the open internet. They know that the open internet is essential for accessing everything from elder care to mental health services and they’re willing to fight for it. This momentum of popular support for Net Neutrality will spill into the streets beginning Dec. 7 as people protest Pai and his corporate cronies outside Verizon stores nationwide. Our message to Pai and Verizon is clear: people everywhere will not sit idle as you destroy the free and open internet.”
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