TPP: We are taking your voices to Washington D.C.!

Over a month since an agreement in principle was first announced, the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has finally been revealed. The text, published last Thursday by the New Zealand government, will force the 12 participating TPP nations to import draconian, U.S.-style copyright rules. It also threatens to undermine data privacy, rob the public domain, and induce Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block and censor websites.

In many countries, thousands are taking to the streets to stop these agreements and call for a new system that puts digital citizens and free expression before the interests of giant media conglomerates. In the U.S., a large and diverse movement of organizations that includes advocates for Internet freedom, labour, environment, food security, education, human rights, housing, education, and more are coming together to push back against the secretive TPP.

We’ve already seen millions of people around the world raise a loud global call against this extreme deal. And next week, from November 14 to 18, people from over 60 organizations will converge on Washington D.C. for 2 days of training and 3 days of mass actions to demand that we reject this undemocratic policy-making and create, in a transparent and democratic way, alternative frameworks that put people first.

Our own Meghan Sali will be attending the week of action on behalf of OpenMedia and our community, and delivering the voices of every single one of you who spoke out against this Internet-censoring deal. More than 3.6 million people have raised their voices and against this agreement, and your OpenMedia team will make sure decision-makers hear you loud and clear.

This #FallRising call to action, issued by Flush The TPP, is for everyone, and it will consist of four days packed with events and activities from action training, to rallies at embassies, to petition deliveries.

Now that a final TPP agreement has been reached and the text has been made public, it’s extremely important that we raise our voices and send a powerful message to the Trade Ministers of the countries involved. But before TPP becomes the new law of the land it has to pass through national parliaments, and opposition is growing. Momentum is on our side and November is a real chance to turn the tables and bury the deal once and for all!

Here’s what’s happening in Washington:

Sat. Nov. 14

We’ll be doing some action preparation and arts build for Monday’s actions across the city.

Sun. Nov. 15

Our friend Maira Sutton from EFF will be discussing how to protect our digital privacy. At Sunday night we will visit the Canadian Embassy for a light brigade action.

Mon. Nov. 16

MASS ACTION for INTERNET JUSTICE!

Meghan will be meeting up with several Internet freedom groups and delivering the voices of over 3.6 million people who have spoken out against the TPP. This is our chance to make our voices heard!

If you happen to be in DC, you won’t want to miss this! Invite all of your friends and let's make this huge! Meet at the Chamber of Commerce 1615 H St., NW for Mass Action/March and Rally to stop the TPP. Find more information, RSVP, and share it with your friends through this Facebook event.

Tues. Nov. 17

HACKATHON

An evening of hacking, building, and meme-making! At this hackathon, we’ll be working on making new online tools, resources, and graphics for people to use and spread the word about the threats of the TPP. This is a distributed event and anyone can contribute as long as they have access to a computer.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the Hackathon and to submit ideas.

Wed. Nov. 18

More actions, more petition deliveries and a possible press conference.

You can see the full schedule here. These actions coincide with the APEC meetings in the Philippines, where U.S. officials (including trade representatives) will push the TPP, and our Philippine allies will have mass protests.

I’m in DC and want to participate. What should I bring?

Great! You can bring musical instruments, drums, noise making devices, banners, props, signs, costumes, art, or anything else you want to share! Be creative! We will also have lots of art and props (blockade art, we-the-people banners, toilet paper luminaries and giant plungers (for Monday evening), vertical banners and more). Invite all of your friends!

OpenMedia is participating in the #FallRising actions in Washington because we must let Trade Ministers know that millions of digital citizens around the world won’t stand for Internet censorship under the TPP. We need to raise awareness about the grave threat this deal poses to our basic rights to access information and express ourselves on the Web.

As community member Joe Crawford put it: "In order to convince the government to reject it, we need to convince majority of the population to reject it."

November could be a decisive month, so keep speaking out and spreading the word!