More than 100 tech companies and organizations shared their messages promoting net neutrality on Wednesday’s “Day of Action,” urging users to reach out to the Federal Communications Commission.
The groups joined together to protest the FCC’s proposed rollback of Obama-era net neutrality regulations. The now-Republican-majority FCC argue the regulations inhibit internet service providers’ ability to innovate and lay new infrastructure.
Google supported net neutrality in a policy blog post.
“Today’s open internet ensures that both new and established services, whether offered by an established internet company like Google, a broadband provider, or a small startup, have the same ability to reach users on an equal playing field,” reads the post.
Like Google, Twitter and Dropbox also expressed their support in blog posts.
“Without the guiding principles of net neutrality, it is entirely possible Twitter would not have come from a somewhat quirky experimental 140-character SMS service to where we are today,” wrote Twitter’s public policy manager Lauren Culbertson.
“If ISPs (internet service providers) had charged for preferred treatment when Drew and Arash founded Dropbox in 2007, we might never have gotten off the ground,” added Dropbox’s general counsel Bart Volkmer, referring to its founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. “Everyone deserves the same chance we had.”
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his profile page in support of net neutrality.
“Right now, the FCC has rules in place to make sure the internet continues to be an open platform for everyone. At Facebook, we strongly support those rules,” wrote Zuckerberg. “We’re also open to working with members of Congress and anyone else on laws to protect net neutrality.”
Net neutrality is a longstanding digital principle that internet service providers should treat all web traffic equally and fairly. This means providers cannot prefer one website or service over the other by granting unequal loading speeds or by blocking or slowing content.
Of the largest internet websites participating in the online protest, Reddit made the most noticeable appearance Wednesday with a slow-typing pop-up message from CEO Steve Huffman.
“The internet’s less fun when your favorite sites load slowly, isn’t it?” wrote Huffman. “Whether you’re here for news, AMAs, or some good old-fashioned cats in business attire, the internet’s at its best when you — not internet service providers — decide what you see online. Today, u/kn0thing (the Reddit username of founder Alexis Ohanian) and I are calling on you to be the heroes we need. Please go to battleforthenet.com and tell the FCC that you support the open internet.”
Netflix carried a banner message saying “Protect Internet freedom. Defend net neutrality. Take action,” with a link to the website of Internet Association, a trade group of more than 40 Silicon Valley companies.
Advocacy groups took a more direct approach. The ACLU had a large pop-up reading “Trump’s FCC wants to kill net neutrality.
Congressional Democrats also took to Twitter and other mediums to voice their support for net neutrality.
“The current rules are working well, and appropriately balance the needs of startups, small businesses, consumers, and ISPs,” wrote Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who represent Silicon Valley, in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
“The internet is a powerful place to make your voice heard,” added Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) on Twitter. “We must keep the internet free and open.”
So far, more than 6.6 million comments have been sent to the FCC regarding its proposed rollback, the most-commented proceeding in its agency’s history. Just last week, there was over 5 million, according to Day of Action organizers.
Even internet service providers like AT&T, perceived as one of the major foes of the existing net neutrality regulations, came out in support for the Day of Action and set up a page to directly comment to the FCC.
“The current debate is not about an open internet – it is about how to protect it,” wrote AT&T. “To prevent a cycle of rules that pivot with every administration change, we are encouraging Congress to pass bipartisan legislation reaffirming protections against blocking, censorship and discriminatory throttling. This will ensure we have an open internet for decades to come.”
Check back on this developing story.
