FreedomWorks Digital Day of Action Update: Grassroots Conservatives Take Almost 300,000 Actions Online to Protect #InternetFreedom

FreedomWorks activists took nearly 300,000 actions to pressure select members of Congress to defend Internet Freedom and uphold FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” order.

Activists are using #ampFW and #InternetFreedom to drive messages to Congress on Facebook and Twitter, as well as driving hundreds of calls and emails to targeted Republican senate offices.

FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon commented:
“Activists do not want to see a return to harmful Obama-era regulatory practices. A free and open Internet will boost investment in technology and infrastructure, and result in a better online experience for all. The level of engagement we are seeing today is undeniable. Grassroots conservatives are taking note of which Republicans are standing strong on their principles, and which ones aren’t.”

FreedomWorks Foundation Director of the Regulatory Action Center, Ken Cuccinelli, made the following comment on the 10:00 a.m. live stream:
“I would venture to say that people who think they like the net neutrality that was imposed ultimately by the Obama administration’s FCC couldn’t actually point to a functional difference of the Internet that was any better. What we can point to is less investment, less innovation. We can identify companies who have said, ‘Now that this is out of the way and this threat is gone, we’re going to go invest billions of dollars back into the Internet.”

Talking about the history of the concern about the way the Internet was administered, Will Rinehart of American Action Forum made the following statement on the 11:00 a.m. live stream:
“What happened in 2005 with this [Comcast] event [that] really sparked everything, it wasn’t abundantly clear that the stuff we talk about now, ISPs benefiting their own content or slowing down content or speeding up content or throttling it or paid prioritization — the Comcast event really fit doesn’t within that. It’s not a great example of this problem.”

FreedomWorks Director of Policy Patrick Hedger said the following on the 9:00 a.m. live stream: “Giving the government control over something doesn’t mean that it will be perfect. You look at the ObamaCare website, you look at how the VA has been run, you look at Amtrak, the Postal Service. When they have been implemented, you see the shortcomings that come from the lack of market incentives and competition that exists in government. The best way to enforce the principles of a free and open Internet is through greater competition.”

FreedomWorks’ Digital Day of Action is designed to preempt the various left-wing groups who are planning to flood the Senate with calls and emails Tuesday, Feb. 27 to flip a Republican vote.

For more information on the digital day of action, please contact FreedomWorks’ press secretary, Jon Meadows: jmeadows@freedomworks.org, 202.486.3720.