Net Neutrality Defenders Announce ‘Epic Final Protest’ to Demand Congress Repeal FCC Rollback Before Fast-Approaching Deadline

By Jessica Corbett | Common Dreams

Fight for the Future announced Wednesday that on Nov. 29, supporters of restoring nationwide net neutrality rules—which the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rolled back last year—are planning “an epic, final protest to pressure lawmakers before a crucial deadline to save the internet.”

📣 NEW: The web is coming together Thursday, Nov 29th for a final push to save the Internet. Join the protest and help pressure Congress to sign the CRA before their deadline to overturn the FCC’s #NetNeutrality repeal: https://t.co/uZ7oGAwSEu pic.twitter.com/fcyLuFuELe

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) November 21, 2018

Supporters of the Obama-era net neutrality protections, which blocked internet service providers (ISPs) from prioritizing or throttling access to certain online content, are urging Americans to contacts their members of Congress to fight for a vote before the winter holidays on a Senate-approved Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would reverse the repeal.

The measure still lacks the support it needs in the House to advance to President Donald Trump's desk before this congressional session ends.

“We'll need a simple majority of sign on to a ‘discharge petition' in order to force a vote past leadership to the floor. That means we'll need to convince all the Democrats and about 25 Republicans to support the CRA,” explains Battle for the Net, a coalition backing the resolution. “The clock is ticking—if the CRA resolution doesn't get a vote this year, it dies when the new Congress comes into session in January 2019.”

Although the majority of Democrats support restoring the rules and will take control of the House in January, Republicans gained two Senate seats in the midterm elections earlier this month and the race in Mississippi has advanced to a runoff.

Speak up to overturn the FCC’s #NetNeutrality repeal! Our best chance to save #NetNeutrality is by filing the CRA before December 10th. Call your reps by heading to https://t.co/xSJHbLq2Wn or dial 202-759-7766

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) November 16, 2018

Advocacy groups have launched a scoreboard to track where lawmakers stand on the CRA resolution to help constituents determine whether they need to put pressure on their representatives. According to the real-time tracker, only one House Republican—Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado—has announced his support for the resolution.

However, some Democrats also would need to be convinced by constituents to vote in favor of the resolution for it to pass. Fight for the Future, on Twitter, highlighted the 16 House Democrats who still oppose it:

Only 16 Democrats in Congress oppose #NetNeutrality:
➡️@RepBrady
➡️@GKButterfield
➡️@RepCartwright
➡️@RepJimCosta
➡️@RepCuellar
➡️@RepGonzalez
➡️@RepJoshG
➡️@RepGeneGreen
➡️@RepOHalleran
➡️@RepSchneider
➡️@repdavidscott
➡️@RepSinema
➡️@RepFilemonVela
➡️@RepVisclosky
➡️@RepWilson pic.twitter.com/6LBRiFhl50

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) November 20, 2018

Democratic supporters, meanwhile, continue to proclaim their dedication to restoring net neutrality:

The open internet has helped to accelerate job growth in Michigan and helped to create new educational opportunities for millions of Americans. Without #NetNeutrality, this would not be possible. pic.twitter.com/szMvNMVXsr

— Rep. Dan Kildee (@RepDanKildee) November 17, 2018

We must continue the fight to restore #NetNeutrality and prevent corporate interests from stacking the deck against regular Nevadans who want a level playing field online. pic.twitter.com/aflpO9tSLE

— Senator Jacky Rosen (@SenJackyRosen) November 19, 2018

The open internet has created access to countless job opportunities, as well as important education and healthcare services for millions of people. None of this would be possible without #NetNeutrality.#CA34 wants #NetNeutrality restored. And we won’t back down until we get it! pic.twitter.com/iqYHPwZoli

— Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@RepJimmyGomez) November 15, 2018

To push members of the House to pass the resolution before this congressional session ends, net neutrality advocates are relying on three key tactics:

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