Mass Protests for Net Neutrality Planned Across U.S. for Tuesday
Here's what you can do.
Net neutrality activists are planning a massive day of action on Tuesday, encouraging Congress to reject the impending net neutrality repeal. Without Congressional action soon, existing net neutrality rules will expire on April 23.
Despite the short timeline, proponents of net neutrality are hopeful they can restore the Obama era regulations. Congress can reject the FCC’s new policy by passing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) with a simple majority in both houses. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in January that 50 senators already support striking down the FCC’s decision; they only need one more vote to pass the resolution.
Here’s what activists are gearing up to do:
Operation #OneMoreVote
Operation: #OneMoreVote is a push to get that last vote from lawmakers. Through a coordinated day of online and offline demonstrations, the internet advocacy groups Fight For the Future, Free Press Action Fund, and Demand Progress hope to swing one Republican senator to vote for the CRA.
On the internet, the demonstrations will mostly take the form of raising awareness and urging people to contact lawmakers. A diverse coalition of websites, including Reddit, Medium, and Github, will all take part in the protests.
IRL Action
In addition to an online blitz, there are physical demonstrations planned at the Capitol Building and home offices of eight different Republican Senators:
- Senator Marco Rubio, Miami, Florida
- Senator John Kennedy, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Senator Dean Heller, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Senator Jerry Moran, Wichita, Kansas
- Senator Cory Gardner, Denver, Colorado
- Senator Rob Portman, Columbus, Ohio
- Senator Orrin Hatch, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Senator Lisa Murkowski, Anchorage, Alaska
Other Ways You Can Get Involved
If you can’t get to a Senator’s office, you can still help by contributing to Operation: #OneMoreVote’s social media push. The organizers recommend sharing pro net neutrality messages on all platforms and switching online profile pictures to the loading ring of doom.
The sheer terror of this should be enough to scare Congress into saving net neutrality.
If you run a website, you can display an Operation: #OneMoreVote banner on your webpage. The clickable banner includes an easy form that can help people contact Congress with little effort.
Visit battleforthenet.com to fill out the form yourself.
Business owners can also sign an open letter urging Congress to save net neutrality.
App developers can get a bit more intrusive and send push notifications to their users asking them to contact Congress and save net neutrality.
What Would Happen if this Works?
If Operation: #OneMoreVote is successful, the Senate can pass the CRA, which would then go to the House of Representatives for another vote (and probably another day of activism). If the CRA passes through both legislative bodies, it would go to President Donald Trump’s desk for approval or veto. President Trump has supported FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the FCC’s decision to kill net neutrality up until now, but activists hope that a widespread demonstration of the public’s position could help sway his opinion.
If Tuesday’s demonstrations work, it would be net neutrality supporters’ turn to take a celebratory sip from a comically large mug.
