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The only way we’re going to win back Net Neutrality is if FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler finds the courage to do the right thing. And a message from Google’s Larry Page, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg carries a lot of weight in Washington.
The State of Washington says that early next week it will become the first state in the nation to offer voter registration via Facebook.
For Internet Users 2015 Was a Year of Many Wins … and One Loss
“Disrupting Facebook would be like trying to disrupt telephone calls, it’s so ubiquitous,” says Paul Adams, former Facebook staffer.
If live video is Facebook’s phase four, then artificial intelligence and virtual reality look like being big parts of phase five. Both of these fit its strategy of monetizing as many of our social interactions as possible.
'My mom's on Facebook': Teens unfriending the social network
SAN FRANCISCO — Darnell Sullivan, a senior at Sacred Heart High School, paused in the campus quad during lunch to explain why he no longer checks his Facebook page as religiously as he used to.
“My mom’s on Facebook,” he said with a tinge of disdain. “I try not to use it. It’s for old people.”
Once a redoubt for teens, Facebook is now struggling to keep younger users interested as other online services increasingly beckon. Many adolescents now say they spend more time with Instagram and Snapchat, two photo and video sharing apps, than updating friends on Facebook about nights out on the town and their favorite hip-hop songs.
The shift marks a major reversal from the social networking landscape of a couple of years ago. Even the strongest companies can face stiff challenges as adolescent fads ebb and flow.
Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2015
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org
Fight for the Future has received several reports of U.S. based Facebook users receiving notifications encouraging them to “Act Now to Save Free Basics in India.”
Free Basics is a so-called “zero rating” plan that offers potential internet users free access to Facebook and a select few other websites, but not to the entire Web. It’s been roundly criticized as a violation of net neutrality that will deepen the digital divide rather than address it. Now it appears that Facebook is using its own platform to lobby against Indian Internet activists who have been successfully opposing the scheme.
“Facebook is abusing its near-monopoly status to mislead users into lobbying for Facebook’s corporate interests. It’s hard to imagine a better example of why we so desperately need net neutrality protections,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, “No corporation or government should be able to decide what we can see and do on the Internet––no matter how nicely they wrap the package, as soon as we give them this power we’re throwing away our basic human right to free expression.”
“Facebook’s Free Basics scheme is like trying to address global hunger by feeding everyone free McDonald’s cheeseburgers,” added Jeff Lyon, CTO of Fight for the Future, “It doesn’t actually address the root cause of the problem, and it benefits corporations way more than than the general public.”
Open Internet activists in India have vehemently opposed the Free Basics scam, which changed its name from Internet.org after its initial announcement generated public outcry. It’s particularly alarming that Facebook is enlisting U.S. users in its campaign against net neutrality protections in India, sparking questions about sovereignty and raising concerns about Facebook undermining the democratic process.
Fight for the Future and other groups will be monitoring this situation closely and plan to continue opposing Free Basics and all other “zero rating” schemes that violate the principles of net neutrality.
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Fight for the Future is a grassroots advocacy group with more than 1.4 million members that fights to protect the Internet as a powerful platform for freedom of expression and social change. They’re best known for organizing the massive online protests against SOPA, for net neutrality, and against government surveillance. Learn more at https://www.fightforthefuture.org and https://www.twitter.com/fightfortheftr
Tell Congress: Keep the Internet WEIRD — and SAVE NET NEUTRALITY
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