Next Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will visit the Bay Area, supposedly for a “fireside chat” with tech executives about bridging the digital divide for underserved communities. But Chairman Pai’s brief tenure to this point has been defined by actions that worsen the digital divide, such as seeking to rescind the Open Internet Order of 2015 that protects net neutrality via light touch regulations to ensure equal opportunity online.

Can you join us in person to demonstrate that the Bay Area supports net neutrality?

The Internet is a diverse and innovative platform thanks in large part to the tradition and requirement that Internet providers not discriminate in regard to the data they carry. Both innovation and dissent rely on Internet users—not the company providing them bandwidth—being in control over what they read and say online. If those companies are allowed to play favorites, or to hold their customers hostage to demand tolls from those who want to reach them, opportunities for both job creation and meaningful dissent will predictably wither.

We can't let that happen.

What: A rally to defend net neutrality
When: Tuesday, September 12 from 6-7pm
Where: Downtown San Francisco, at 543 Howard St. (close to the Montgomery BART station)

See you next Tuesday!

Shahid Buttar
Director of Grassroots Advocacy