Protect the Internet's Founding Principles

We need to act now, before FCC Chairman Pai and his Big Telecom cronies undo the historic open Internet wins of the past few years.5 If Pai has his way, it will be harder to afford high-speed Internet, to hold the government to account, and for online startups — like the next Netflix or Google — to flourish.6

In 2015, we showed government and corporate interests that if you mess with the Internet, you’ll lose.7 After millions of Americans spoke out, strong Net Neutrality8 rules were put in place, ensuring that the Internet would be a level playing field, without “slow lanes” for those who couldn’t pay. It meant we’d have one Internet for all, not a two-tiered Internet.

But that open Internet is in danger right now.

Chairman Pai says he wants to take a “weed whacker” to those protections.9 While Pai, a former lawyer at Verizon, goes to bat for Big Telecom, he’s kneecapping up-and-coming web companies who won’t benefit from the same level playing field as companies that dominate the market today.

Pai’s version of the web means a slower Internet for us all, making it harder to access each other — our friends, family, and loved ones — and the wider world we’ve come to depend on.

We will be faced with a web where videos and content not owned by Big Telecom load much more slowly. This could mean we can’t access essential communications, and websites could slow to a crawl when we need them most.

An open Internet is also an incredibly important tool we have to hold politicians to account and revive our democracy. We need an open Internet to beat back corruption and hold the powerful accountable for their actions.

Defend America’s Internet. Don’t let powerful interests destroy the founding principles of our web.