We cannot organize without net neutrality
This was a difficult day. For two years, I had worked full-time at Stanford Law School to protect net neutrality — and I was relieved and overjoyed that we won Open Internet rules in 2015. I had just become a new mother and thought: No matter what happens, the next generation will have the tools to speak, resist, and organize. But today, the FCC voted to begin the process of reversing what we fought so hard for. News about the vote was buried in the astounding avalanche of Washington scandals this week — but it’s vital not to miss. Why?
We cannot organize for ANYTHING we care about without net neutrality. None of us — educators, artists, activists, faith leaders, everyday people — will have an equal chance of being heard if corporations can block or discriminate against our voices online (either because we can’t afford their fees or because they don’t like what we say). In other words: “Ending net neutrality would incapacitate the resistance.” – Free Press. And erode our democracy to no end. If you have never done so before, I hope you will consider net neutrality your issue too. What can you do? Sign this petition, and the team will deliver it to the FCC: https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/…/the-open-internet-is-…
Thanks to all who protested in DC today during the vote. Including my friend and colleague Cheryl Leanza. She told the story of how our call to #RevolutionaryLove is reaching millions only because of net neutrality. (Indeed, my entire life as a brown Sikh American filmmaker/lawyer/activist would not be possible without it. This is true for countless voices of my generation). And she held up the sign of the organization we created together:
FAITHFUL INTERNET: www.faithfulinternet.org.
Here you can find our primers, articles, videos, and webinars on why net neutrality matters to people of faith and moral conscience. Including prophetic leaders William J. Barber, II, Linda Sarsour, Jacqui Lewis, Simone Campbell, Brian D. McLaren, Sharon Brous, Peter Heltzel, Michael-Ray Mathews, Otis Moss III, Sharon Groves, Eric Michael Solomon, and Greg Epstein.
This work was made possible by my former boss & scholar Barbara van Schewick and our amazing team Aeryn Palmer, Aseem Mehta, Imran Siddiqui, Lauren Turek, Kyle de Beausset, and Emily Baxter.
Thank you Cheryl for representing all of us out there today. I’m not giving up. For your kids and mine. #MoralResistance #RevolutionaryLove