Demand Progress

Restore net neutrality! Tell the Senate to confirm Anna Gomez to the FCC

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    Restore net neutrality! Tell the Senate to confirm Anna Gomez to the FCC

    Petition to the Senate:
    We urge you to vote quickly to confirm Anna Gomez and Geoffrey Starks to the FCC. These confirmations are necessary to create the functional FCC we need to restore net neutrality, and make the internet work better for everyone.

    It has been more than 950 days since Trump appointee Ajit Pai resigned as head of the FCC. Today many of Pai’s disastrous policies — notably, the dismantling of net neutrality — are at a stand still, with no chance of repealing them as long as the FCC remains in a grueling gridlock.1

    But we are closer than ever to breaking through GOP and telecom obstructionism and finally getting one of President Biden’s key nominees appointed: Anna Gomez just needs to be confirmed by the Senate, and then our path to restoring net neutrality will be clear.

    The vote could happen any day now. And that gives us a very small window of time to put the pressure on winnable Senators. So please, take a few minutes right now and sign our petition, calling on your Senators to CONFIRM Anna Gomez as the 5th and final member of the FCC.

    With a 3-2 majority at the FCC, Democrats could repeal Ajit Pai’s reckless decision to overturn Title II protections, which guarantee net neutrality and are a BEDROCK for a free and open internet.

    Without these protections, the FCC lacks sufficient oversight authority, and corrupt telecom companies can engage in harmful practices. Examples in recent years include:

  • Researchers found that telecom companies slowed down the speeds of certain streaming services. For example, from 2018-19, AT&T throttled Netflix 70% of the time and YouTube 74% of the time, but not Amazon Prime Video.2
  • Cox Communications set up a “fast lane” fee of $15 per month so consumers could access faster speeds and Cox could rake in greater profits.3
  • And in a particularly egregious instance, Verizon throttled firefighters’ data as they fought wildfires in California, endangering the first responders and others in the path of the flames.4

    • These are just three of the ways companies have taken advantage of Pai’s decision to repeal open internet protections. And it doesn’t take a big imagination to think of all the other horrible ways these telecom giants can abuse their power to meddle with how we access the internet.

    We’re counting on you. Please sign this petition, calling on your Senators to support Anna Gomez’s nomination to the FCC. In doing so, we’ll be able to FINALLY reinstate Net Neutrality, and make the internet that much more accessible and open.

    Sources:

    1. The Verge, “Senate committee approves nominee to break FCC deadlock,” July 12, 2023.
    2. Public Knowledge, “Two Years Later, Broadband Providers Are Still Taking Advantage of An Internet Without Net Neutrality Protection,” December 10, 2019.
    3. Ibid.
    4. Ars Technica, “Verizon throttled fire department’s 'unlimited' data during Calif. wildfire,” August 18, 2018.

     

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