The support of Google and Facebook in the day-of-action campaign could be a match-changer since their sites are visited by the number of millions of Americans, and a word from them could rally new opposition to the FCC plan.
The two tech whales have yet to reveal what specific actions such as presenting a banner on their homepage they will need. In emails to News, spokespeople for Facebook and Google approved the companies will join but declined to provide additional details.
The news from Facebook and Google comes a month after Amazon, in a shocking move, became the first big tech firm to join the likes of Reddit and Etsy in confirming the day of action. Soon after Netflix furthermore announced it would participate.
The July 12 campaign is suggestive of another day in 2012 when the tech industry rebelled against a questionable copyright bill known as SOPA by altering or even blacking out their websites. The resulting uproar resulted in Congress withdrawing the bill.
It’s unclear despite if next week’s campaign, made by a group called Fight for the Future, will do enough to sway the FCC’s proposal to revoke net neutrality. While the agency is taking public comments on the plan, its current Chairman, Ajit Pai, is a past Verizon lawyer and a strong ideologue who regards the modern rules as a burden on business and he has the votes to push through the repeal measure.
A popular outcry, though, could lead Congress or the White House to put pressure on Pai to rethink his plan to end net neutrality.
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