Some of the world’s largest internet companies are planning a day of action in defense of open internet rules now under attack by the Trump administration.
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Amazon, Etsy, Kickstarter, Mozilla, and Vimeo all intend to hold a day of protest on 12 July in opposition to plans by Donald Trump’s newly appointed telecoms regulator to neuter tough 2015 rules meant to protect net neutrality — the concept that all traffic should be equal online.
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Ajit Pai, new head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), pledged last year to take a weed whacker to rules that regulate the internet like any other utility like water or electricity, arguing they were too onerous on cable companies and stifled innovation.
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The potential rollback of the regulations has already sparked huge online protest and more organizations and companies are likely to join the day of action in the coming days.
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Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, said: The internet has given more people a voice than ever before, and we’re not going to let the FCC take that power away from us. Massive online mobilization got us the strong net neutrality protections that we have now, and we intend to fight tooth and nail to defend them.
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Alongside Amazon and others, the day of action is being backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Library Association, Center for Media Justice, Demand Progress, Greenpeace, MoveOn and many others.
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Michael Cheah, general counsel of Vimeo, said: Net neutrality made it possible for Vimeo, along with countless other startups, to innovate and thrive. The FCC’s proposed rollback of the 2015 open internet rules threatens to impede that innovation and allow a handful of incumbent ISPs to determine winners and losers.
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Global tech companies including Google, Netflix and Twitter joined a similar day of protest in 2014 helped…