Halfway Home in the Battle to Restore Net Neutrality

Senate vote Wednesday Shifts the Fight to the House

Advocates for the free flow of information online – and you certainly should be among them – are halfway to a critical victory thanks to a bipartisan vote on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate.

Three Republicans joined all 49 Senate Democrats in backing a resolution that would overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s decision last year to roll back open internet or “net neutrality” protections adopted during the Obama administration. The now-displaced rules required Verizon, Comcast and other internet service providers (ISPs) to treat all websites equally.

The Senate vote shifts the battle to restore net neutrality to the House of Representatives. Click here, and you can add your voice to those of the millions of Americans pushing for this vital protection. This is the same message we sent to senators before their vote, so we know it’s effective – if we can get it through to enough of our representatives.

If net neutrality disappears, ISPs will be able to treat your broadband service like a cable TV subscription, slowing or restricting your access to some sites – either by charging you more money to reach them or just censoring them altogether.

In the past decade or so, the internet has become our nation’s – indeed the world’s – public square. It puts an infinite variety of news and information at the fingertips of anyone with a broadband connection; the last thing any of us should want is to give giant companies a license to favor parts of that information or limit our access to the rest.

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