Following the Federal Communication Commission's controversial vote Thursday to regulate broadband Internet, President Barack Obama sent a handwritten thank you note to Reddit users, who for more than a year have used the website to rally Americans to petition the FCC and their local representatives on behalf of net neutrality,
Business Insider reports.
The push began eight months ago when a user with the name TheArmedGamer posted the following message: "Reddit, there are only 45,000 comments on the FCC's proposed anti-Net Neutrality rules. Let's fix that."
The post kicked off a grassroots effort of sorts to lobby the FCC on net neutrality, which prohibits companies from creating so-called fast lanes to prioritize some content over others, according to Business Insider.
In addition to TheArmedGamer’s call for action, Reddit asked its users — known as redditors — to take part in a call-a-thon with pro-net neutrality groups to petition Congress and the FCC to support strong regulations,
The Washington Post reports.
Reddit’s co-founder and executive chairman, Alexis Ohanian, personally manned the phones for three hours, according to the Post.
After the FCC voted 3-2 in favor net neutrality, the president sent two messages to Reddit, the first a typed message he asked to be shared with the entire Reddit community that read:
"Earlier today, the FCC voted to protect a free and open internet — the kind of internet that allows entrepreneurs to thrive and debates over duck-sized horses and horse-sized ducks to persist.
"This would not have happened without the activism and engagement of millions of Americans like you. And that was a direct result of communities like reddit.
"So to all the redditors who participated in this movement, I have a simple message: Thank you."
He also scrawled a handwritten note saying, "Thanks Redditors! Wish I could upvote every one of you for helping keep the internet open and free! Barack Obama."
Upvote refers to how the Reddit site works, with users upvoting or downvoting stories that they like.
Ohanian also posted a message on the site, lauding Redditors (the site’s users) for their activism.
"This time the internet rallied to create something that would protect our open internet. Eight months ago, a redditor named TheArmedGamer posted a link to the /r/technology community saying: 'Reddit, there are only 45,000 comments on the FCC's proposed anti-Net Neutrality rules. Let's fix that.'"
The message continues: "They set off a cascade of comments, millions of them, that ended up setting a record for the FCC. You all even helped us, reddit the company, write our own comments to the FCC. And just as recently as a month ago, you responded to our phone-a-thon, making over 15,000 calls in a span of just three hours to your representatives and the FCC. You did this.
"A year ago, they said it'd be futile. Today, we defeated opponents of net neutrality who have spent tens of millions of dollars every year lobbying government.
"We defeated them by spending our time. Thank you."
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