UPDATE: Millions have called on Congress to pass the CRA to save net neutrality since FCC repeal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2018
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

As hundreds of websites participate in Operation: #OneMoreVote kick-off, Internet activists announce that more than 2.3 million people have asked lawmakers to block FCC repeal by passing CRA resolutions

Following a successful day of action kicking off a sustained campaign to block the FCC’s unpopular repeal of net neutrality, Internet activists announced today that more than 2.3 million people have used BattleForTheNet.com and other tools to contact their lawmakers in support of using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to restore basic open Internet protections.

Tuesday, as the CRA resolutions were introduced in the Senate and House, more than 1,700 websites, including popular companies like Reddit, Tumblr, Sonos, Etsy, Kickstarter, Private Internet Access, and Medium, helped sound the alarm online, while Internet users gathered in Washington, DC and outside of Senate offices in Alaska, Ohio, Florida, Louisiana, Utah, and Kansas. Dozens of small businesses met with key Republican lawmakers to express their support for the CRA.

See a gallery of screenshots and photos here: https://imgur.com/a/a4mzE

“Outside of Washington, DC this is not a partisan issue, and that’s why we’re bringing the entire Internet together to demand that lawmakers of both parties support the CRA to restore net neutrality,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, “We’re not in this to win points for either party, we’re in it to win this fight and defend the Internet as an open platform for free expression and exchange of ideas.”

Since the FCC’s December 14th vote to repeal, net neutrality advocates have been pressuring members of Congress to endorse the CRA. As Operation: #OneMoreVote kicks off the Congressional debate over the CRA, here is what Internet activists have managed to achieve:

• More than 2.3 million actions asking lawmakers to support the net neutrality CRA.
• #NetNeutrality trended in the US on both Twitter and Facebook on Feb 27
• More than 650,000 people used text messaging to take action, and will receive updates on how their lawmakers vote on the CRA
• More than 200,000 phone calls to lawmakers in recent weeks through BattleForTheNet.com and other tools
• Major websites including Reddit, Kickstarter, Medium, GitHub, Sonos and Pornhub, and over 1,700 others, displayed prominent site-wide alerts to their users.
• Hundreds of small and medium sized businesses signed an open letter supporting the CRA at BusinessesForNetNeutrality.com.
• 54 subreddits participated by adding prominent announcements and collectively represent over 58,913,281 subscribers.

These numbers represent the work of a broad coalition of public interest groups, startups, and popular websites. The CRA resolutions are the most likely path to restoring net neutrality protections while Congress deliberates. They require a simple majority in the Senate and House, as opposed to 60 votes needed in the Senate for traditional legislation. Internet activists plan to wage an all out war to pass the CRA in the House, where they will need to secure votes from more than 20 Republicans to hit the 218 needed to force a floor vote.

While pundits have repeatedly claimed that the CRA would “definitely” face a White House veto, Republican FCC Commissioner O’Rielly told Politico that he’s unsure that would happen. President Trump is anything but predictable, and polling shows that 75% of his base opposed the FCC’s repeal of basic online free speech protections.

“The Internet has changed the rules for what is and isn’t possible in Washington, DC,” Greer added, “Stopping SOPA was considered impossible. Winning the Title II rules we’re defending now was considered impossible. We’re in the business of accomplishing the impossible. We’re fighting to win.”

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