Tabletop Strategies

Great news! The net neutrality rules you all fought so hard for (and won!) have gone into effect. The FCC’s Open Internet is Order is officially official.

Pop open a bottle of whatever you celebrate with, but don’t get toooo comfortable yet. In a bogus and sneaky move, some members of Congress are using a funding maneuver to prohibit the FCC from implementing its own net neutrality rules.

If you care about internet freedom and you have a spare minute, you can help make sure Congress doesn’t screw up this victory. Call up one of these key members of the House Appropriations Committee and and ask them to take out the anti–net neutrality language from the House Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016, specifically sections 628, 629, and 630: 

Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL, who introduced the bill)

Rep. Henry Cuellar (R-TX, who’s advocating for the interests of the carriers)

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY, who’s currently the best champion of changes to the bill that will preserve net neutrality)

More details: This is a general appropriations bill that funds independent agencies, including the FCC, through the coming year. Legislators on the Appropriations subcommittee are trying to thwart net neutrality by attaching specifically targeted riders to the bill. Considering that the FCC’s monumental ruling was the culmination of a remarkably open and participatory debate, these background moves are a particularly cynical circumvention of the democratic process and the will of the people.