Google will participate in the upcoming “Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality” that’s scheduled to be held next Wednesday, July 12, The Alphabet-owned company confirmed in a statement given to Inverse. The event is formally organized by nonprofit advocacy group Fight for the Future, though it’s supported by a wide variety of other organizations active in the realm of digital rights. The Day of Action aims to draw the attention of the general public to the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that’s currently in the process of repealing the net neutrality rules originally put into place by the former Obama administration. The websites, organizations, companies, and individuals supporting the initiative will be active on a wide variety of online fronts and pursue several goals, from advocating the advantages of the open Internet to pointing out how the current FCC chairman Ajit Pai formerly worked as Associate General Counsel at Verizon, the largest mobile service provider in the country that’s openly against the rules that Pai is now working to eliminate.
Apart from Google, the upcoming Day of Action will also be supported by Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Reddit, and a number of other massive online platforms that are seeking to maintain the current regulatory framework preventing ISPs from treating data from certain sources in a favorable or unfavorable manner, essentially discouraging users from accessing certain websites or making them pay extra for the privilege of doing so unthrottled. The Mountain View, California-based tech giant said it’s still determining what specific course of action will it take next Wednesday in an effort to support the ongoing fight for net neutrality but will presumably publicly disclose its decision before Wednesday. While the company has yet to decide on the level and nature of its involvement in the initiative, it always planned to be supportive of the endeavor, according to its spokesperson Riva Sciuto.
Some industry watchers believe that the recently repealed privacy rules pertaining to U.S. ISPs were a precursor to the FCC’s plan to eliminate the so-called Title II classification that’s essentially keeping net neutrality in place by classifying Internet providers as public utilities. If successful in its efforts, the FCC may repeal the rules by the end of the year.