This Thursday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to destroy current net neutrality protections. If this happens, internet service providers (ISP) will be allowed to favor some websites, or other internet services, over others. This would allow your provider to censor unpopular speech by slowing your connection speed to websites it does not favor.

Freethought websites, such as ffrf.org, face a high risk of censorship. Besides internet service providers that might deliberately advance a religious message, providers also might hold bandwidth ransom, slowing connection speeds to a trickle if a site doesn’t pay a higher rate or fee. While megachurches and other large religious organizations could afford such a cost, secular organizations such as FFRF likely could not.

The growth of American freethought and explosion of the nonreligious population over the last two decades is tied to the free flow of information and open access to facts that undercut religious myths and religious privilege. Secularism depends on the internet to continue its inexorable growth.

In short, defending net neutrality defends freethought. Please ask your senators and your representative to urge Chairman Pai to reverse course and leave current net neutrality protections in place.