Why Americans are still waiting for our first tech president

[Commentary] As Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have shown, any candidate hoping to connect with voters in the 2016 election can’t do so without a strong online presence. But embracing the Internet as an organizing tool isn’t enough. To become the nation’s first genuine tech president, a candidate must also champion Internet policies that safeguard users and ensure the network’s survival and continued growth.

On June 13, a coalition of public interest organizations that played leading roles in these policy fights will release the 2016 Internet Policy Platform and send it to the leaders of both major parties, including their presumptive nominees, as a roadmap to becoming America’s first tech president. The platform has been endorsed by more than a dozen Internet rights, social justice and consumer advocacy organizations, including 18 Million Rising, ColorOfChange, Demand Progress, Free Press, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. We built the platform around six guiding principles supported by millions of Americans who have become forceful advocates for internet rights. These principles – free speech, access, choice, privacy, transparency and openness – are what make the Internet a democratic medium like no other. They must be upheld by anyone seeking elected office – not just our next president. The Internet isn’t just a tactical tool for campaign organizing. Candidates need to pay attention to Internet users and protect the interests of everyone who’s fighting for policies to keep the network open, secure and available to everyone.

[Timothy Karr is the senior director of strategy for Free Press.]