Tech companies and mayors unite for day of online protests

For one day, tech companies big and small united on a common cause: to protest the government’s rollback of rules for the internet.

Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon and hundreds of smaller tech companies coordinated an online protest Wednesday against the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to scrap net neutrality rules, which guarantee that broadband service providers treat all internet traffic equally. The tech companies want the rules to remain to protect them from unfair treatment by broadband providers such as Comcast or AT&T, which could create faster delivery lanes for some websites and not others.

Silicon Valley approached this fight against the Trump administration’s plans its own way — by taking to the internet.

Some of the biggest users of internet lanes were at the forefront. Netflix, which depends on free and open internet lanes to transmit its streaming video, had a small banner ad on its home page reading “Protect Internet Freedom. Defend Net Neutrality. Take Action,” which linked to the net neutrality information page of its trade group, the Internet Association. (The banner didn’t appear on the app for television viewers.)

Twitter promoted the hashtag topic #NetNeutrality on its home page and app and posted a link to a blog post with an explainer on the issue and a direct link to comment on the FCC website.

Those who use Reddit, the online forum, were greeted with a pop-up promotion that gave its take on why net neutrality is important.

Some tech companies did not make their displeasure as overt on their home pages. Google, one of the biggest supporters of net neutrality, instead posted a link to a blog on Twitter warning that the rules were in danger and that people should make their voices heard by telling the FCC to stop its rollback.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke also voiced support for the net neutrality rule.

“In Chattanooga, we have the cheapest, fastest most pervasive internet in the Western Hemisphere, and net neutrality helps ensure it is open and available to everyone,” he said. “I am proud to join mayors from across the country to let the FCC know that our communities demand equitable access to the internet. Repealing net neutrality protections goes against innovation and economic growth, while hurting American families who rely on an open internet daily.”

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