When the FCC announced its intention to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, Americans spoke up. When the FCC ignored the fact that most Americans support net neutrality, Americans spoke up again, asking Congress to reverse the FCC’s decision. And the Senate listened. This fight continues in the courts, in the states, and, yes, in Congress.
The just-introduced Save the Internet Act would restore the 2015 Open Internet Order and prevent the FCC from pulling the same stunt it did in 2017 by ignoring facts and the clear desire of the people. Internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast would once again be banned from engaging in discriminatory data practices like blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. ISPs would once again be accountable for actions that threaten the free and open Internet, public safety, and competition. Privacy protections from your ISP would once again be restored. There would again be protections for real net neutrality.
The Save the Internet Act returns us to the hard-fought-for protections of the 2015 Open Internet Order and we should not settle for anything less. Bills, like H.R. 1101 (Walden), H.R. 1006 (Latta), and H.R. 1096 (McMorris Rodgers), that focus only on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization miss the vital point that net neutrality is a principle of fairness. We cannot let ISPs try to redefine net neutrality as simply bans on three specific actions. It’s the idea that the provider that you pay to get you online doesn’t get to determine your experience once you’re on the Internet. You decide what you want to see and use, without ISPs stacking the deck in a way that benefits them.
Legislation that protects real net neutrality recognizes that there are more than three ways for ISPs to leverage the fact that they control your access to the Internet and Internet services’ access to you. Legislators that truly believe in a free and open Internet will support the Save the Internet Act and not any bill that does less for Americans.
Americans of both parties have made their opinion on net neutrality clear. Over and over again, we’ve spoken out. And we’re going to keep doing it until we get the Internet we deserve.
Tell your representatives you want them to stand up for real net neutrality. And don’t let them redefine net neutrality by supporting one of the other, net-neutrality-in-name-only bills. Tell them you want them to co-sponsor the Save the Internet Act, and take a stand for Team Internet—not ISPs.
