A New Tool for Putting Net Neutrality on the Map
By Megan Tady, December 14, 2009
The question isn’t who’s been naughty and who’s been nice this holiday season. It’s who’s supporting Net Neutrality, and who isn’t?
And now, we’re making it easy for you to find out. We’ve built a new, interactive map that allows you to effortlessly find out where your members of Congress stand on Net Neutrality. You can use the tool to call your rep, tell us how it went, and post the map on Facebook and Twitter so others can do the same.
Just click on your state – or any state – to find out which representatives are supportive of an open Internet. I’ve been playing with the map all morning – it’s almost getting as addictive as Minesweeper.
What’s most cool about this map is that it was a crowd-sourcing effort created with the help of your fellow activists. We recently asked thousands of activists to call their representatives and report back to us on whether they support the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (H.R. 3458).We used those responses to help us build the map.
Although the map is public, we’re still in early phases, so please help us update it with new data, kick the tires, and share it with your friends. We’d love to hear your feedback in the comment thread below.
And if your rep is unknown or undecided — or is already lining up on the wrong side of this issue — now is the time to give them a call.
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Free Press does not support or oppose any candidate for public office. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media and universal access to communications.
Megan Tady
Megan Tady is a blogger, video producer and freelance writer who previously served as the Free Press communications coordinator. She blogs at SavetheInternet.com and SavetheNews.org. Follow her on Twitter @MegTady.
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Comments
Nice blog
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Kerja Keras Adalah Energi Kita
Would it be possible to add
Would it be possible to add an "overall" pie chart to the map? As it is, it could be somewhat misleading, since states with fewer representatives can appear far more influential than they actually are. For example, Wyoming is at 100% Against, but only has one representative, while California is slightly below 25% For, but has twelve representatives that are in favor of Net Neutrality. When you click on one of the states and see the list of Congresspeople, it becomes obvious which state is more influential, but this is not apparent on the overview map. I think that adding a pie chart that shows the nationwide percentages would go a long way toward alleviating this.
good suggestion
We'll look into it.