Net Neutrality Is Here -- Thanks To An Unprecedented Guerilla Activism Campaign

With the Federal Communications Commission voting to reclassify Internet access providers under Title II of the Communications Act, network neutrality rules are stronger than ever. The credit for such a seachange, say activists who agitated for the decision, belongs to a mix of online and traditional activism.

Three activist groups that strongly backed net neutrality -- Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, and Free Press -- on the morning of Feb 27 flew a victory lap, literally, around Comcast’s corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. A banner towed by an airplane mocked the corporate Internet service provider with a picture of Internet-famous feline “Grumpy Cat” and a message “Don’t Mess With The Internet. #SorryNotSorry.” Malkia Cyril, the executive director of the Center for Media Justice, stresses that the strength of the net neutrality movement relied on the diversity of its coalition. She says Color of Change, National Hispanic Media Coalition, immigrant rights’ groups, activists from Black Lives Matter and communities of color “took it to the streets, to the doorstep of the ISPs.”“What happened? The people happened, organizing happened,” Cyril says.