{"id":6554,"date":"2017-10-22T10:47:43","date_gmt":"2017-10-22T17:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=6554"},"modified":"2017-10-22T10:47:43","modified_gmt":"2017-10-22T17:47:43","slug":"team-internet-mobilizing-activists-nationwide-fcc-threat-net-neutrality-chris-paulus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/10\/22\/team-internet-mobilizing-activists-nationwide-fcc-threat-net-neutrality-chris-paulus\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW “TEAM INTERNET” IS MOBILIZING ACTIVISTS NATIONWIDE AGAINST FCC THREAT TO NET NEUTRALITY by Chris Paulus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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10\/17\/2017 (Occupy.com)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The battle for net neutrality heats up this month as groups including Demand Progress, Free Press and Fight for the Future ramp up\u00a0nationwide actions<\/a>\u00a0under the banner of a new coalition:\u00a0Team Internet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Allying with the group are companies like Netflix, Etsy, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Reddit, Tumblr, Upworthy, and Vimeo, among dozens of others. The coalition represents the latest stage in the pitched battle over net neutrality \u2013 a fight of many years involving digital rights activists, Internet service providers (ISPs) and lawmakers who have battled contentiously and passionately for reform on their ends of the ideological spectrum.<\/p>\n

In one corner stand are those who view net neutrality as a digital manifestation of the First Amendment. In the other, those who think individuals and businesses should be able to pay more for better, faster access to the internet. The result so far: another stalemate with yesterday\u2019s progress back on the negotiation table.<\/p>\n

Until, perhaps, now.<\/p>\n

Corporate industry groups have recently filed petitions for a writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court\u2019s decision that classified broadband as a common carrier under Title II of the Telecommunications Act. They say that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)\u00a0exceeded its statutory authority<\/a>\u00a0by reclassifying broadband as a common carrier service.<\/p>\n

The Team Internet coalition is hardly the first group to protest Congress and lobbyists intent on stripping citizens’ rights in the digital realm. However, one distinguishing aspect of the new group is its use of a modern, some might say revolutionary, approach: through peer-to-peer technology and \u201cdistributed organizing\u201d tactics that\u00a0support, and call for, in-person activism across the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For example, on September 27, a group of people came together at the U.S. capitol to meet individually with their U.S. senators and representatives. The internet users were recruited through an\u00a0online campaign<\/a>\u00a0of tweets and emails. Additionally, a\u00a0crowd-funding page<\/a>launched by Fight for the Future helped internet activists to financially support participants if they could not go themselves.<\/p>\n

Now, because of the campaign waged by Team Internet, everyday Americans are meeting face-to-face with lawmakers to warn them of the importance of net neutrality provisions \u2013 and to urge them in no uncertain terms to support current Title II status.\u00a0According to<\/a>Demand Progress, as of last week around 4,000 people had committed to visiting lawmakers\u2019 in-district offices, and more than 7,000 had signed up to be volunteers. The site provides a\u00a0daily nationwide events page<\/a>\u00a0encouraging people to show up to meet with their representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe companies trying to kill net neutrality are spending millions on lobbyists who are hitting the Hill constantly to spread fear and misinformation,\u201d said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. \u201cWe\u2019re harnessing the power of the Internet to make sure that those stories are heard over the noise of the telecom lobby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team Internet has employed another tactic to organize people and activities through a decentralized process: Instead of having particular leaders at the helm, the group’s activism is supported and created through volunteer-run online and offline sites that support organizing at both the local and state level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the two months since the Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality, those efforts have crystallized into a decentralized, grassroots movement to defend a free and open Internet,\u201d\u00a0write<\/a>\u00a0Alison Brzenchek, Mary Alice Crim and Heather Franklin of Free Press.<\/p>\n

The group\u00a0Battle for the Net<\/a>, put together by the organizing groups of Team Internet, expands on this approach by making it incredibly easy to contribute to the cause. First, one can send a pre-written e-mail to Congress and the FCC. There are also plenty of videos educating the public on the issue, which they make easy to pass along.<\/p>\n

Next, you can find your home state with its full list of members of Congress. The site clearly exposes each member’s stance on net neutrality, with their photo, and by hovering over each photo, one can immediately send a pre-written tweet to that individual senator or congressperson. The design of the website is intuitive, instant, and simple \u2013 all ingredients for a successful digital campaign.<\/p>\n

Well-supported, decentralized, grassroots organizations like Team Internet are the antidote to incessant corporate lobbying, and should be a model for other movements to follow. The group promises to apply sustained pressure on the telecom industry and their cohorts in Congress. As the corporate sector continues to flex its muscles through brute economic force, activists are fighting back with mobility and endurance. Where lobbyists and corporate-funded lawmakers work surreptitiously in the dark, activists work openly, on all platforms, ready to resist harmful changes and mobilize more people to join the battle.<\/p>\n

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10\/17\/2017 (Occupy.com) The battle for net neutrality heats up this month as groups including Demand Progress, Free Press and Fight for the Future ramp up\u00a0nationwide actions\u00a0under the banner of a new coalition:\u00a0Team Internet. Allying with the group are companies like Netflix, Etsy, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Reddit, Tumblr, Upworthy, and Vimeo, among… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6555,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6554\/revisions\/6555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}