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Internet Freedom

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The open Internet is central to people’s freedom to communicate, share, advocate and innovate in the 21st century.

But powerful interests want to censor free speech, block the sharing of information, hinder innovation and control how Internet users get online.

All too often, people in power are making political decisions behind closed doors about how the Internet operates, and without the involvement of Internet users themselves.

The result: policies that could close down the open Internet and threaten our freedom to connect.

It’s time for us to reclaim the Internet for its users. We must declare our Internet freedom.

Blog Posts

  • Investigate the NSA

    Josh Levy
    June 18, 2013
    Mass surveillance and democracy are like oil and water: They just don’t mix. Millions agree. And already close to 220,000 people have joined the movement at StopWatching.Us to urge Congress to investigate the National Security Agency’s spying programs.

  • Five Questions for the Next FCC Chief

    Timothy Karr
    June 18, 2013

    Tom Wheeler, the White House’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission, was for years a well-heeled lobbyist for cable and wireless companies. He also served the president’s 2008 and 2012 election campaigns as a top “bundler,” raising more than $700,000 from undisclosed donors in support of Obama.

  • Five Things You Need to Know About NSA Surveillance

    Timothy Karr
    June 14, 2013
    Watching conventional wisdom form in Washington can be appalling. The emerging consensus on surveillance this past week has D.C.’s pundit class saying that privacy violations are a small price to pay for keeping Americans safe. But conventional wisdom is wrong.
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Actions

  • The Government May Be Spying on You

    The Obama administration is spying on all calls millions of Verizon customers make each day to any phone number inside or outside the United States. Tell President Obama: Stop spying on me.

    Take Action

  • Senators: Take a Stand for Online Privacy

    Online spying and surveillance have a chilling effect on free speech. They create an environment in which we refrain from posting on Facebook, conducting Web searches, sending emails, writing blog posts or otherwise communicating online for fear that the National Security Agency could come knocking.

    Tell your senators to vote "NO" on any cybersecurity bill that threatens our online privacy.

    Take Action Today

  • Free Our Phones

    We need open devices and networks to communicate and innovate — and that means we need the right to modify our own hardware  and truly own our cellphones.

    Congress must introduce and pass legislation that legalizes cellphone unlocking.

     

    Take Action
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Press Releases

  • 100,000 Demand End to NSA Spying at StopWatching.Us

    June 13, 2013

    WASHINGTON — Within 48 hours of the launch of StopWatching.Us, more than 100,000 people have demanded a congressional investigation into the National Security Agency's spying activities and full accountability for those involved.

    A diverse coalition of privacy, Internet freedom and civil liberties advocates —including Mozilla, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Free Press Action Fund — created the website in response to revelations about the NSA's domestic surveillance programs.

  • Coalition of More Than 80 Organizations and Internet Companies Calls on Congress to End NSA Spying

    June 11, 2013
    On Tuesday, the Free Press Action Fund and more than 80 organizations and Internet companies sent a letter demanding that Congress halt and investigate the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs. The signers include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla and reddit. The letter coincided with the coalition’s launch of StopWatching.Us, a site demanding an inquiry into the scope and scale of the NSA’s spying activities.

  • Free Press Condemns Government Collection of Electronic Communications

    June 7, 2013

    WASHINGTON — Since 2007, the federal government has been working with the nation's top Internet companies — a group that reportedly includes Apple, Facebook and Google — to access their users' electronic communications. Under the surveillance program, known as PRISM, the National Security Agency collects foreign communications traffic from these companies. It's likely that PRISM also sweeps in Americans' domestic electronic communications.

More »

Resources

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News from Around the Web

  • Bad Connection

    Slate
    June 18, 2013

    Obama wants to bring better broadband to schools. But how will he pay for it?

  • NSA Scandal: Tech Titans Jockey to Be the Most Transparent of All

    Time
    June 18, 2013

    America’s largest Internet companies are tripping over themselves to bolster their public image following blockbuster disclosures about their role in the U.S. government’s controversial data-gathering program.

  • NSA Leak Catch-Up: The Latest on the Edward Snowden Fallout

    The Atlantic
    June 18, 2013

    It's been two weeks since the Washington Post and Guardian newspapers began to publish their stories based on leaks and interviews with former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden. The leaks have continued, counterleaks have bubbled up, tech companies have responded, and debate about the man at the center of it all continues to rage.

Learn More

  • Broadband

    Access to high-speed Internet service — also known as broadband — is a basic public necessity, just like water or electricity.

    Yet despite its importance, broadband access in the United States is far from universal. Millions of Americans still stand on the wrong side of the "digital divide," unable to tap into the political, economic and social resources of the Internet.

  • Cybersecurity

    Our right to private communications is a cornerstone of American democracy. But with heightened awareness in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, technological advances have continued allowing the government to expand its reach into our private lives via electronic surveillance and data-mining programs. New laws and policies introduced in the last decade have eroded our civil liberties online.

    Congress has a poor track record when it comes to cybersecurity legislation. The bills introduced so far give the government way too much power to intrude on our privacy online.

  • Declaration of Internet Freedom

    Tired of fighting bad bills like SOPA, PIPA and CISPA? Want to stand up against those who are trying to control what we do and say online? It's time for something different.

    A group of more than 1,500 organizations, academics, startup founders and tech innovators has come together to sign a Declaration of Internet Freedom, a set of five principles that put forward a positive vision of the open Internet. Click here to add your name.

People + Policy

= Positive Change for the Public Good

people + policy = Positive Change for the Public Good