Opponents of the FCC's proposal to roll back the Title II reclassification of internet access providers and rethink the 2015 Open Internet order are preparing for their Sept. 27 Day of Advocacy.
The protest is focused on Capitol Hill and is being led by Public Knowledge, Center for Media Justice, Common Cause, Consumers Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press, National Hispanic Media Coalition, and the Writers Guild of America-West.
At least 40 people have volunteered to share their stories in meetings with legislators about the need for applying the Title II common-carrier regulations to ISPs, according to Public Knowledge.
“For two years and counting, we have had strong enforceable rules at the FCC and the internet is thriving," said Public Knowledge's Katie Forscey. "And yet the dominant providers insist on rehashing old fights and directing their considerable lobbying resources in Washington towards trying to rip these rules apart."
Consumer Action for A Strong Economy (CASE), which backs the Title II rollback, said, “With so much money at their disposal, it’s quite telling that the tech giants who seek government control of the internet for their own financial benefit managed to muster only 60 fringe activists to participate in their efforts. Whether these subsidized protestors are aware or not, their actions do not make the internet more free or accessible to average users, but instead cede control to billionaire content providers such as Google and Facebook and their digital fiefdoms."
