This week, the FCC voted to protect real Net Neutrality—marking the biggest victory for the public interest in the agency’s history.
That’s right. We won.
Even a few months ago, this victory didn’t seem possible. Last May, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler ignored the public call for real Net Neutrality—and instead released a proposal that would have allowed pay-to-play fast lanes online.
Comcast and its pals thought they’d won the fight. But Free Press members and millions of people across the country proved them wrong. After a year of relentless activism, Wheeler reversed course—moving to give Internet users the strongest protections possible under Title II of the Communications Act.
It’s an incredible turnaround that wouldn’t have happened without every single phone call, e-mail, rally, Facebook post, tweet, meeting with Congress, and everything else activists have been part of in the fight to save the Internet.
This moment was more than ten years in the making. The fight to protect the open Internet has united everyone—grassroots activists, technologists, new civil rights leaders, parents, teachers, students, musicians, artists, and millions and millions of Internet users. We've proven that we're a force to be reckoned with in Washington.
Know this: Now that we've won this huge victory for the Internet, the cable and phone companies will do everything they can to knock it down. But Free Press and its allies have never backed down from a fight.
Whether in the courts or in Congress, the media or the streets, we will continue pushing, fighting and advocating for the strongest possible policies to protect the free and open Internet. Our message to the world is clear: Mess with the Internet, and you’ll lose.
This isn’t the end. This is the start of something huge.
Craig Aaron is the president and CEO of Free Press, which fights for everyone’s rights to connect and communicate.
