Battle for the internet gets two big players

Next week, on July 12, the internet will come together in a day of action to fight FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and popular vote loser Donald Trump and save net neutrality. Of course, Daily Kos is in the fight—we always have been. But we're glad to welcome even bigger players into the fold.

Facebook and Google will be joining a mass online demonstration in support of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules, spokespeople for the companies confirmed to The Hill.
The two internet giants join dozens of other companies and activist groups planning to rally grassroots support next week for the regulations, which require internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally. […]

“We have not heard directly from either Facebook or Google, but we’re glad to hear that these companies are listening to their employees and Internet users and will speak out for net neutrality with the rest of the Internet on July 12,” Evan Greer, campaign director at Fight for the Future and an organizer for the event, said in a statement.

“In previous years these companies have often been on the sidelines of these fights, so we hope that they plan to do something meaningful in the spirit of the protest and educate their users about what’s at stake if we lose net neutrality protections that protect our online free speech, and give them opportunities to take action.”
A united internet successfully staved off the horrible Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) efforts by Congress with a blackout back in early 2012. We fought for net neutrality on September 10, 2014 with the internet slowdown, and in January 2015 fought a push from a newly elected and unified Republican Congress trying to kill net neutrality before the FCC could establish it.

This fight is not going to end, not any time soon. Next Friday, we’re back at it. Stay tuned for what you can do to help, and if you haven’t already, make and sign your statement, and we’ll make sure it gets to the FCC.