For many of us, the coming months are a time of celebration.

The holiday season is nice because it brings with it a communal focus on reflection, solidarity, and giving. People everywhere remind themselves of what truly matters to them, and consider the things they have to be grateful for in their lives. The relationships with the ones we love take priority for a few months and everyone gets to feel all warm and fuzzy for a little while.

And the best part is, everyone can openly and freely express this all over the internet.

And we have an obligation to keep it that way.

An Introduction to Net Neutrality and Why Killing it Would Suck For Us

Tell me, what do you think of this picture?

Keep in mind that this is a best case scenario.

Does that piss you off?

Good, because thats exactly what you might have to expect by the beggining of 2018.

For those of you who don’t know, Net neutrality is essentially the idea that the internet, and the data within it, should be free.

It’s the reason why you can tweet on twitter and share photos on Instagram as freeley and as unlimitedly as you want. It’s why you can express your opinion openly and participate in internet forums or create websites. It’s why you can grow businesses and stream netflix and play games and make Skype calls and watch porn. It’s why you can read this article.

And it’s currently being threatened.

Without Net Neutrality, your Internet Service Provider could essentialy block you from accesing any website they didn’t want you to access. It would also allow your ISP to intentionally slow down or cut off access to websites you frequent, forcing you to pay an additional fee if you want to continue using them.

This December, the FCC will vote to pass a bill to Repeal Net Neutrality.

If this bill passes, the description above will become the new standard for the internet. You’ll have to get used to paying extra to use the sites you use for free today.

And if you don’t like the sound of that, you’re in luck.

Because there’s something you can do about it.

A Mega List of Ways You Can Help Protect the Internet

Go to https://www.battleforthenet.com and sign up to automatically email and call congress. Text resist to 504–09 to connect with a bot that will write an email or fax to your senator or governor (free of charge). Attend a protest by finding one near you here. Join Reddit and over 30 subredits that support net neutrality. If you have a website, you can enter this script into your sites header displaying a prominent alert asking your visitors to call their reps. It will not block, slow, or paywall your site. The Script: <script src="https://widget.battleforthenet.com/widget.js" async></script> Use this list of congress members and tweet them. Visit your member of congress in person. Use this website to find drop in meetups near you. You can also post and share this image:

9. Or this slightly smaller version:

10. Share this article and list.

Don’t let your freedom online be taken away. Do what you can to join the fight for net neutrality and protect and preserve the internet over 3billion people enjoy on a daily basis.

Stay thankful, and happy holidays.