Save Net Neutrality and Stop the Attack on Digital Civil Rights
Net Neutrality is a critical racial justice issue.
The open internet has enabled people of color to speak for ourselves and tell our own stories without asking for permission from internet service providers. It’s enabled us to organize online and fight for the human rights and dignity of our communities — from saying #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, #HeretoStay and #NoDAPL to calling for an end to mass incarceration and the Muslim ban.
This is why the Voices for Internet Freedom coalition is calling on members of the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American Caucuses to support the CRA effort to pass a resolution of disapproval — introduced by Rep. Mike Doyle — to undo the FCC’s decision to eliminate the Title II Net Neutrality rules.
In December, the Trump FCC voted to gut the Net Neutrality rules that prevented ISPs from blocking, throttling and discriminating against online content — essentially handing over control of the internet to corporations. This means that companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon now control the most important communication and organizing tool of our time — and could use it to censor political speech and crush movements for racial, gender and economic justice.
Saving the FCC’s Title II Net Neutrality rules is about preserving civil rights online. Communities of color need the open internet to continue fighting for a world in which our humanity and dignity can be realized.
The first year of Chairman Pai’s tenure has served as a wake-up call. His agency’s war on the poor is an effort to deny communities of color and low-income households the basic ability to access our modern communication networks and prevent us from fully participating in society. And the decision to kill Net Neutrality is part of the Trump administration’s goal of punishing poor people and communities of color alike.
We urge members of the Congressional Tri-Caucus to denounce this assault on the communications rights of people of color by co-sponsoring the resolution of disapproval to overturn the FCC’s decision to kill its Net Neutrality rules.
The Voices coalition is led by the Center for Media Justice, Color Of Change, Free Press Action Fund, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and 18 Million Rising.
