Q&A with Evan Greer of the nonprofit Fight for the Future, who organized Wednesday's “Net Neutrality Day of Action”
but the rules are still getting scrapped Marguerite Reardon / CNET : Net neutrality fight could end up in court, senator says Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge : AT&T's ‘support’ for net neutrality means tricking customers to fight against it Elliot Harmon / Electronic Frontier Foundation : Historic Day of Action: Net Neutrality Allies Send 1.6 Million Comments to FCC Fight for the Future : Historic day of action for Net Neutrality breaks records: more than 1.6 million comments heading … Brian Feldman / New York Magazine : Net-Neutrality Protests Result in Millions of Emails and Comments to the Government Jim Puzzanghera / Los Angeles Times : Net neutrality supporters say online rally is just the start of the fight to keep tough FCC rules Geoff Livingston / The Buzz Bin : What is Net Neutrality? — A Popular Buzzword, What Is Net Neutrality Emily Wood / Google : Net Neutrality Day of Action: Help preserve the open internet Kate Cox / Consumerist : No, AT&T, Comcast, And Verizon Are Not Suddenly In Favor Of Net Neutrality Curtis Silver / Forbes : A Net Neutrality Hot Take From Your Impatient, Fist-Shaking Grandfather Richard Lawler / Engadget : The Morning After: Thursday, July 13th 2017 Jason Shueh / StateScoop : Mayors label Trump's net neutrality plans an ‘affront to democracy’ Klint Finley / Wired : Day of Action: Sen. Wyden Leads the Battle for Net Neutrality James Farrell / SiliconANGLE : Tech giants stage huge protest of FCC plan to quash net neutrality rules, but will it work? Web Foundation / World Wide Web Foundation : Web Foundation joins day of action for net neutrality Michael J. Coren / Quartz : Google and Amazon are fighting to save net-neutrality rules that Trump says are killing business Peko Wan / Opera News : Join us to fight for net neutrality Ryan Mccauley / Government Technology News : 50 Cities and Counties Participate in Net Neutrality Day of Action Seung Lee / SiliconValley.com : Tech companies share pro-net neutrality messages for ‘Day of Action’ Jason Citron / Discord Blog : Why Net Neutrality Matters Eric Brackett / Tech Times : What Is Net Neutrality And Why Should You Care? corporate.comcast.com : Comcast Supports Net Neutrality on the Internet Day of Action USA Today : Internet providers respond to the Internet's huge net neutrality protest Heather Kelly / CNNMoney : Tech companies go big and small for net neutrality protest Chriss W. Street / Breitbart : Net Neutrality ‘Day of Action’ Fizzles into Big Yawn Nate Hoffelder / The Digital Reader : Why Today's Net Neutrality Protest Matters (Some People Still Refuse to Get The Point) Aric Jenkins / Fortune : What Is Net Neutrality and Why Should You Care? Marguerite Reardon / CNET : Net neutrality backers fight back Blake Montgomery / BuzzFeed : The FCC Wants To Repeal Net Neutrality, And Companies Like Twitter, Google, And Amazon Aren't Happy Elizabeth Stinson / Wired : Day of Action: How Facebook, Google, and More Supported Net Neutrality Brian Reigh / Android Authority : Net neutrality affects all of us: how to support Google and 39 others in day of action Cella Lao Rousseau / iMore : 5 things you can do right now to support Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality Chris Velazco / Engadget : The internet needs us to save net neutrality Will Johnson / Verizon Fios & Custom TV : A time for real action … Today, some companies and organizations … Fight for the Future : Massive protest for net neutrality spreads across the Internet Todd Weiss / Data Center Knowledge : Net Neutrality Supporters Taking Action Today in Fight for Net Freedom Tony Romm / Recode : Democrats in Congress are promising to do everything they can to stop the FCC from gutting net neutrality Chris Mills / BGR : Never forget how much money Comcast, Verizon and AT&T spent to crush net neutrality Tumblr Staff : The internet needs you — You're up again, Tumblr. Jack Corrigan / Nextgov : Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii … Thuy Ong / The Verge : Amazon, Reddit, Netflix, Airbnb, Spotify, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and many others in tech are rallying today in support of net neutrality Bart Volkmer / Dropbox : Another Stand for the Open Internet Erik Kain / Forbes : Why Gamers, Netflix Users And Everyone Else Should Care About Net Neutrality Sonos Blog : Why Sonos fights for net neutrality Sam Gutelle / Tubefilter : Vimeo, Reddit Lead Charge As Tech Companies Fight For Net Neutrality Anita Balakrishnan / CNBC : Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is open to working with Congress on net neutrality issues Cecilia Kang / New York Times : See How Tech Companies Got Together for a Day of Online Protest Marty Swant / Adweek : Here's What Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter Are Doing to Support Net Neutrality Eric Chiu / International Business Times : Who Voted Against Net Neutrality? GOP Congress, FCC Opponents Fight Day Of Action Dominic Rushe / The Guardian : Trump's ‘war on the open internet’: tech firms join day of action for net neutrality Madeline Buxton / Refinery29 : Why You'll See Calls For Action Across The Web Today Molly Sequin / Mashable : Tech companies are pushing everyone to join the fight for net neutrality Ali Breland / The Hill : Senate Republican: We need bipartisan net neutrality legislation Levi Sumagaysay / SiliconBeat : Will net neutrality Day of Action protest work? Facebook: Sheryl Sandberg : Keeping the internet open for everyone is crucial. Mark Zuckerberg : Today people across the US are rallying together to save net neutrality. Tweets: @wired : Today's fight to protect #NetNeutrality is going to be even harder than the SOPA/PIPA campaign, Sen. Wyden says http://www.wired.com/... @jason : always charming when a huge monopoly stands up for the net neutrality. http://twitter.com/... Thanks: @annelisemcgough See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
The Day of Action traces back to June, when Amazon, Mozilla, Reddit, Y Combinator, Kickstarter, Etsy, and Vimeo first announced an online protest against the FCC's repeal plan scheduled for July 12. Google and Facebook joined days before the event, broadening the coalition from startups to the industry's biggest platforms confirming their participation on July 9.
Evan Greer's Q&A with Fast Company frames what Fight for the Future built: a coordinated push that drew more than 1.6 million comments to the FCC in a single day, with fifty cities and counties taking part and congressional Democrats pledging opposition to the repeal. Organizers subsequently estimated at least 10 million people saw the protest, with over 2 million submitting comments by the following day.
First-order effects
- The FCC's comment docket absorbs a record-scale influx — over 1.6 million comments in one day — forcing the agency to weigh unprecedented public volume against its repeal timeline.
- ISPs' public posturing gets undercut: coverage during the action clarified that AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon are not genuinely backing net neutrality despite appearances of support.
Second-order effects
- Congressional Democrats harden their stance, promising to oppose the FCC's repeal effort, while mayors publicly label the plans an 'affront to democracy' — turning a regulatory fight into an electoral one.
- Big platforms that stayed quiet early, like Google and Facebook, face pressure to match the activism of smaller participants such as Reddit, Etsy, and Vimeo, since sitting out a coalition this visible carries reputational cost.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, internet companies become a standing political bloc capable of mobilizing users at scale around regulatory fights — shifting net neutrality battles from courtrooms and dockets toward mass-participation campaigns that regulators cannot easily dismiss.
The trend: Tech policy advocacy is consolidating into large cross-industry coalitions where startups and platforms jointly mobilize user bases to flood regulators with public comment.