In light of the Federal Communications Commission’s recent debate to repeal net neutrality, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is using the occasion as a politically expedient moment to highlight the #MeToo campaign.
In a Wednesday afternoon tweet, Sen. Gillibrand stated that the #MeToo campaign -- which is about sexual harassment, not internet regulation -- was successful due to a free and open web.
Ten years ago, @TaranaBurke created the #MeToo movement to tell young women of color who had survived sexual assault that they were not alone. This sparked a powerful movement, made uniquely possible by a free and open internet.
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 13, 2017
This is why we must fight for #NetNeutrality.
While Sen. Gillibrand may have been correct in stating that a free and open internet helped the #MeToo campaign, the #MeToo movement began only a few months ago, and net neutrality has only been in effect since 2015.
On top of that, Gillibrand purports that net neutrality somehow made the internet free and open to begin with -- which isn't true. In fact, it's generally agreed that internet service providers did not block content prior to 2015, meaning that the #MeToo campaign still would have experienced similar success in an America without net neutrality rules.
It seems as though the president is the only person calling out Sen. Gillibrand’s opportunistic approach to divert attention away from the facts, as the mainstream media doesn’t seem to care about taking her to task.
Despite Sen. Gillibrand's efforts, the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality on Thursday afternoon, by a vote of 3-2.