The Online Coalition: From Left to Right, Preserve Our Rights

If there is one thing that bloggers, left and right, can agree on, it’s the need to preserve our rights to free speech on the internet. The FEC has proposed a rulemaking process regarding political communication on the internet.

The Online Coalition has drafted a letter and a petition to Scott E. Thomas, Chairman of the FEC, regarding their concern over “potential regulation of bloggers and other online journalists who distribute political news and commentary exclusively over the web.”

Like the town hall meeting, online political activism is a vital part of American civic life. We encourage the FEC to provide bloggers, online journalists, and everyday cyber-citizens with the same freedoms that individuals and traditional journalists are free to exercise elsewhere. The Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 was intended to prevent unlimited soft money contributions and regulate electioneering advertising, not to stifle free speech or grassroots activities on the Internet that serve the common good.

If you value your rights to speak out online about your political views, as I do, then please join me in supporting The Online Coalition. Read "The Coming Crackdown on Blogging" for information about The Online Coalition's concerns.

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