Group Takes Aim at Lawmakers That Support Killing Net Neutrality

Net neutrality activists are starting the new year with a major new offensive intended to name and shame lawmakers who support the dismantling of net neutrality. While the FCC voted 3-2 to repeal net neutrality rules last month, the agency has one hell of a court battle awaiting it once the repeal hits the federal register. That's because the FCC ignored the public, ignored hard data, and refused to aid law enforcement investigations into the massive fraud "somebody" engaged in to try and downplay public opposition to the plan.

While the courts remain the best bet for putting the FCC and its BFF ISP allies back on their heels, activists continue to focus on trying to repeal the rules via the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the same mechanism Trump and the GOP used to kill consumer broadband privacy protections early last year. That allows Congress to overturn a regulatory agency's decision with a vote, provided it occurs within 60 days.

To that end, consumer group Fight for the Future has launched a new "Vote For Net Neutrality effort," which urges consumers to contact and pressure their lawmakers into supporting the CRA reversal, and will keep a running tally of which lawmakers protect net neutrality, and which blindly obey AT&T, Verizon and Comcast lobbyists.

"In the Senate, we may only need one more Republican to vote for the CRA to get it passed, given that Susan Collins (R-ME) opposed the FCC plan and signalled openness to a CRA," says the group.

"In the House, we'll need about 20 Republicans to listen to their constituents and vote for the CRA," they note. "That's harder, but several Republican representatives have already criticized the FCC's vote, and given that more than 75% of Republican voters support net neutrality, it's doable."

Again, Trump would still need to sign off on the CRA reversal, which isn't likely to happen.

But even if the CRA reversal fails, net neutrality advocates see political and PR value in forcing opponents of net neutrality to put their fealty to telecom duopolies on public display via a hard vote, something that could potentially be damaging (especially among Millennial voters) ahead of the looming midterms.