Net neutrality champions
Save the Internet

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY

Save the Internet has helped protect Americans from telecommunications companies hellbent on destroying net neutrality.

Save the Internet Overview ‧ read

The importance of net neutrality isn’t always obvious, perhaps because most of us haven’t been affected by internet inequality.

Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) and governments treat all internet data the same. No matter which website, app, or messaging service you use, net neutrality ensures that data is carried at the same speed. And whether you’re rich or poor, net neutrality requires ISPs to transmit your internet data at the same speed as everybody else’s.

What would happen if we didn’t have net neutrality? ISPs would be able to slow down or even block the websites and apps they didn’t like. Those in power would be able to discriminate against websites and internet users they disagreed with, heralding the end of free speech online.

In 2016, net neutrality was fairly well protected in the U.S., Europe, and many other countries. But in India, some ISPs have tried to exploit the lack of net neutrality laws to limit which websites people can access. Net neutrality in the U.S. has also come under attack from telecommunications companies, which have spent big bucks to lobby against net neutrality laws.

Enter Save the Internet, a coalition whose objective is to preserve and extend net neutrality, led by the nonprofit Free Press. Here’s our profile of Save the Internet.

A First Amendment for the internet

Save the Internet was founded in April 2006, when a group of nonprofit organizations and activists came together to demand a “First Amendment” for the internet that would protect online free speech. “The fight for internet freedom is now being waged in earnest, said Free Press director Tim Karr. “On one side you have the public... on the other side you have the nation's largest telephone and cable companies, who have aligned with some in Congress to strip the Internet of the First Amendment.”

The fight for internet freedom is now being waged in earnest...

Save the Internet aims to defeat attempts by private companies to overturn existing U.S. laws on net neutrality. Verizon, for example, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)—which strives to protect the Open Internet—claiming that the FCC “does not have the legal authority” to say how ISPs treat internet traffic.

How Save the Internet protected net neutrality

Save the Internet has used these 6 tactics to secure net neutrality.

It has pressured the FCC. Save the Internet’s public pressure helped persuade the FCC to reclassify the internet as a public utility in February 2015, protecting net neutrality.
It has pressured U.S. Congress. The organization also pushed more than 60 members of Congress to back net neutrality. It also urged supporters to write to their members of Congress about the issue.
It has made some noise in Washington. In 2014 and 2015, Save the Internet organized rallies, protests, hearings, and other public events. It also helped organize the 24-hour Internet Slowdown, a day of action in which more than 40,000 websites took part.
It has grown the movement. Save the Internet has worked hard to build the coalition fighting for stronger net neutrality protection. Its supporters include advocacy groups, artists, musicians, and actors.
It has educated people. Save the Internet provides net neutrality FAQs, guides, and other resources on its website to increase awareness about the importance of net neutrality.
It has made net neutrality a media talking point. It’s had more than 4,000 press hits since January 2014, in outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

The fight for net neutrality isn't over

The FCC acted to protect net neutrality by reclassifying the internet as a public utility in February 2015. But Save the Internet believes the fight is not over yet: “Companies like Comcast and Verizon aren’t used to losing in Washington, and they’ll do everything they can to knock down the protections the FCC approved.”

Companies like Comcast and Verizon ... [will] do everything they can to knock down the [net neutrality] protections the FCC approved.

The organization has also noted that several U.S. senators have introduced “resolutions of disapproval” of the FCC’s net neutrality rules. Save the Internet’s answer? “Mess with the internet, and you’ll lose.”

Join the fight for net neutrality. Take action now.

The hero net neutrality deserves

Internet users face many threats to our digital rights, from secret government surveillance to direct attacks on free speech. Attacks on net neutrality are just as dangerous.

Save the Internet has been a loud, passionate, and powerful defender of net neutrality so far. And the FCC’s new rules show its approach is working. So here's a massive “thank-you” to Save the Internet for keeping net neutrality safe!