FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

CJ Frogozo, cj@fitzgibbonmedia.com, 310 570 2622

Michele Setteducato, michele@fitzgibbonmedia.com, 732 614 3818

New York, NY — ColorOfChange.org applauded FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal to reclassify the Internet as a public utility, and urged the FCC to ensure that the final rules do not contain loopholes which would undermine net neutrality for the benefit of the telecom industry.

Chairman Wheeler has stated that the FCC’s new rules will protect net neutrality, which has been crucial to modern day civil rights movements and fights for equality. The release of the FCC’s net neutrality rules – if telecom lobbyists do not succeed in inserting loopholes – will represent a major victory for next generation civil rights activists, years in the making. Since 2010, ColorOfChange.org members have taken more than a hundred thousand actions pressuring the FCC and Congress to protect the open Internet. ColorOfChange worked alongside organizations in the Voices for Internet Freedom coalition that recognize net neutrality as a key civil rights issue.

ColorOfChange.org applauded Representatives Maxine Waters, Keith Ellison, and John Lewis for publicly calling for strong net neutrality protections, and called on others in Congress to let the FCC do its mandated job.

Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, issued the following statement:

“We applaud Chairman Wheeler’s decision to reclassify the Internet under Title II, and urge him to move forward with strong rules free from loopholes that would undermine net neutrality. By protecting the open Internet, the FCC will protect the platform that is fueling a new civil rights movement. Net neutrality provides a level playing field for all voices, and it has allowed Black activists, entrepreneurs, and citizens to find their audience online, despite often being left out of traditional media.

“Sadly, some members of Congress have continued to undermine efforts to protect our communities, doing the bidding of telecom giants like Verizon and Comcast, who are continuing to say that the open Internet will hurt the economy and low income communities, claims which have been debunked. It is our hope that more members of Congress will show they are on the side of communities, and not corporations, by supporting the FCC in implementing the strongest net neutrality rules possible.

“From the streets of Ferguson to the halls of Congress, our ability to be heard, counted, and visible in this democracy depends on an open Internet, because it allows voices and ideas to spread based on their quality – not the amount of money behind them.”

###

With more than 1 million members,ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest online civil rights organization.