Urgent: New bills undermine net neutrality

91% of Americans believe consumers should be able to freely and quickly access their preferred content on the Internet. But big cable companies want to force us to use their products to watch their content. And if we don’t like it, too bad; with limited competition, they can charge us unfair fees and decide who does — and doesn’t — get Internet service.

That’s why they’ve introduced fake net neutrality bills. These bills talk about "Internet openness," but they actually seek to reclassify broadband providers to prevent the FCC from enforcing any rules at all. This will allow Verizon to throttle data speeds for firefighters and enable AT&T to sell your location to bounty hunters without any repercussions.

So take whatever corner of the Internet that you control — whether it’s a major platform or a personal Instagram account — and use it to pressure Congress. Here’s how:

1. Change your social media avatars and profile pics to help sound the alarm. You can find great artwork in our gallery here.
2. If you make videos, consider making a video about net neutrality, or use our simple video bumper to help spread the word.
3. If you run a website or blog, post our banner ads to let your visitors know you support net neutrality. We’ve provided examples in our gallery here. Link back to BattleForTheNet.com whenever you can so people can easily contact their lawmakers.
4. If you run a website or blog, deploy our updated widget to let your users contact Congress without ever leaving your site. Details below.

Our elected officials in Congress can save net neutrality by rejecting fake legislation and passing laws that prevent Internet providers from throttling traffic, censoring online content, and imposing unfair fees on businesses and users alike.

This will require a bipartisan effort from lawmakers, which may seem like science fiction in these deeply divided political times. But net neutrality is not a partisan issue. In fact, an overwhelming majority of Americans support net neutrality, including Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike. And we’ve successfully pushed lawmakers to cross the aisle in support of net neutrality efforts before.

Here’s how we’ll do it this time:

• Flood them with calls and emails

  When millions of people call and email their representatives, Congress listens. That’s why we developed a widget that website owners can place on their site, giving their site’s users the opportunity to contact Congress. And we’ve created art assets that will allow individuals to spread the word on powerful social media platforms.

• In-district constituent pressure

  It’s important for lawmakers to see the people who support net neutrality. We’ll help schedule in-person events, protests, meetings, and canvassing to mobilize constituencies ( like veterans ) that lawmakers listen to.

• Mobilizing small businesses

  In Washington, money talks. So lawmakers listen to the small business owners in their districts because those business owners are vital to the local economy. We need to reach out to small business owners to ask them to sign our petition in support of net neutrality, then we hand-deliver this petition to our politicians.

Voters from across the political spectrum agree: they don't want their cable company to control what they see and do online. The FCC's reckless repeal of net neutrality has sparked an unprecedented backlash, as millions of Americans have contacted their lawmakers in protest. The numbers below represent actions taken through BattleForTheNet.com and its partners. Many more have taken action on other sites or contacted their lawmakers directly.

To help convince the House, contact congress now and add to these numbers.

It can be hard to keep track of who supports net neutrality and who doesn’t … especially with cable companies and their lobbyists pushing for fake net neutrality legislation. So we’re here to help.

Below you'll find a link to a list of your state's senators and representatives. The lawmakers in green signed a discharge petition to overturn the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, so tell them how much you appreciate their support on this important issue. The lawmakers in red failed to support the discharge petition, so contact their office to let them know that actions speak louder than words.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out the map below to find a protest or a meeting with a representative in your state. And if there are no events in your area, consider organizing one!

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Net neutrality is the principle that everyone should have access to websites and apps, preventing Internet providers like Comcast & Verizon from creating “fast lanes,” censoring content, throttling traffic and even outright blocking access to their competitor's products. This principle has guided the world wide web from the beginning, and has been protected by federal policy under Republican AND Democrat leadership since the early 2000s.

Unfortunately, Internet providers ignored this policy and even actively sued the federal government to destroy net neutrality protections … and they won. Their anti-consumer practices finally convinced the FCC to issue the Open Internet Order as a last resort in 2015. But under new leadership, the FCC has removed these regulations, threatening to end the web as we know it.

Want to learn more? Watch these videos!

Members of Team Internet support free speech and free markets online through meaningful, enforceable net neutrality laws. We are everyday Americans from across the political spectrum. We are thousands of small business owners. We are startups, tech giants and grassroots organizations with millions of members. Check out the list below to see who’s taken action to save net neutrality:

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Team Cable wants to end net neutrality so they can control and tax the Internet. Team Cable lies about the effects of net neutrality on the free market and ignores blatant corruption in the regulatory process. If they get their way, we will all pay more money for worse Internet access. Independent voices will be stifled. And innovative start-ups will struggle to compete in the online marketplace.