Dems Add Their Voices to Internet Advocacy Day

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) says he will be leading a bicameral (though not bipartisan) group of legislators in a solidarity press conference with Title II fans on July 12, the Advocacy Day for network neutrality activists and edge providers pushing back on the FCC's proposed rollback of Title II.

Those legislators will be joined by representatives of Mozilla, Free Press, Public Knowledge, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Common Cause, Open Technology Institute, National Hispanic Media Coalition, and the Internet Association, according to Markey's office.

The press conference will be held on the Capitol lawn.

Related: AT&T Joins Internet Action Day

"The Trump administration has started the process of rolling back the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Open Internet Order," said Markey's office, "which prohibits internet service providers from slowing down or blocking online traffic or setting up internet fast and slow lanes [anticompetitive paid prioritization]."

The press conference will "raise voices" against that rollback.

From the Hill, those voices are scheduled to include Sens Ron Wyden (D-Ore), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Jared Polis (D-Colo.).

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.