Giant Google & Facebook to unite with ‘US Net Neutrality’ protest on July 12

Giants like Facebook and Google have determined to participate in the 'Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality' protest planned for July 12 in the US.

The protest is organized by advocacy groups Fight for the Future, Free Press, and Demand Progress.  Also, the  'Day of Action' has already received support from Amazon, Netflix and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among others.

"The protest is being organised against the US Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) recent regulatory behaviour (or lack thereof) that open Internet advocates fear could roll back years of legislative progress," Fortune reported on Saturday.

"The participation of Google and Facebook could be a game-changer because their sites are visited by hundreds of millions and a message from them could rally new opposition to the FCC plan," the report added.

The July 12 campaign is reminiscent of another day in 2012 when the tech industry rebelled against a controversial copyright bill known as SOPA by altering or even blacking out their websites.

The consequential tumult resulted in Congress withdrawing the bill, the report noted. The President Donald Trump had selected India-origin Ajit Pai to lead the influential FCC, the US communications regulatory agency.

However, the backing groups are influencing the tech companies and others to resist Pai's plan to raze the net neutrality order which was issued in 2015.

It reclassifies broadband as a utility service and imposed several common carrier regulations - including ban on throttling or blocking content and on charging companies higher fees for prioritised delivery.