Democrats and the Left Went Full Chicken Little About Internet Freedom

"THIS IS THE END OF THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT!" – Bernie Sanders (actual quote, see below)

Well, Bernie… I feel fine. And so does the rest of the internet. On Monday, June 11th, The Restoring Internet Freedom order will go into full effect. All it does is return the internet to THE EXACT SAME regulatory structure it was under from 1996 through 2015–repealing the unnecessary and burdensome rules put in place by the Obama-era FCC in 2015. These rules stifled billions of dollars in new investment and subjected the internet to rules created… in 1934! (Seriously)

It will be a great day for the internet, which is now back under the rules that allowed it to become what it is today. But of course these facts haven’t stopped Democrats and other left-wingers from doing their best Chicken Little impressions. So on Monday, June 11th, when the sky doesn’t fall, the world doesn’t end, and you don’t notice anything different about the internet, remember how desperate the following people were to convince you otherwise. Here’s a list of some of the most outlandish doomsday claims, easily viewable here, on the internet… which is still here… cue the music

Sen. Chuck Schumer

Fight for the Future

“Without #NetNeutrality, the internet will be like in-flight wifi. Slow, expensive, insecure, and where most of the best stuff is blocked unless you pay more” [tweet by Evan Greer, Deputy Director]

“Without #netneutrality, widespread throttling &blocking will destroy the Internet as we know it.” [tweet]

“Ending #NetNeutrality will end the Internet as we know it.” [tweet]

Battle for the Net

“What… if… all… your… favorite… websites… loaded… this… slowly… unless… you… paid… extra… to… access… them?” [tweet]

ACLU

“We… can… all… spend… one… minute… calling… our… senators… to… demand… they… vote… to… save… #NetNeutrality… tomorrow… or… we… can… wait… for… webpages… to… load… one… word… at… a… time… when… internet… providers… don’t… like… what… we’re… doing… online… Time to choose.” [tweet]

Free Press

“These companies can now slow down their competitors’ content or block political opinions they disagree with.”[website]

“The internet without net neutrality isn’t really the internet” [homepage]

Referred to the Restoring Internet Freedom order as “internet-breaking” plan [headline]

Voices for Media Freedom (Free Press + Center for Media Justice)

Alleged the Restoring Internet Freedom order would “Break the Internet” [blog post]

Steve Wozniak (Apple co-founder) and Michael Copps (former FCC Commissioner)

“Ending net neutrality will end the Internet as we know it” [op-ed]

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor & publisher of The Nation

“A broadband carrier like AT&T, if it wanted, might even practice internet censorship akin to that of the Chinese state, blocking its critics and promoting its own agenda.” [interview]

Sen. Ed Markey

“Don’t be fooled by the voices that say this is all doom and gloom & that the ISPs would NEVER block or throttle content. Mark my words, without #NetNeutrality, these are not alarmist & hypothetical harms.” [tweet]

Los Angeles Times (Mihael Hiltzik, business columnist)

The FCC’s abandonment of network neutrality will end the internet as we know it [headline]

New York Magazine (Brian Feldman)

“There are dozens of reasons to be concerned about this plan — but maybe the reason that’s simplest to explain, easiest to understand, and most important to your day-to-day life is this: It’s going to mess with your Netflix.

“Maybe AT&T customers will be blocked from Netflix and strong-armed into using HBO as their streaming-video provider.“ [article]

IndieWire op-ed

“Repealing Net Neutrality Will Kill the TV Revolution” [headline]

Sen. Bernie Sanders

“This is the end of the internet as we know it.” [tweet]

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