CA Democrat Who Gutted Net Neutrality: My Family Is Under Attack

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—After he almost single-handedly edited what had been called a “gold standard” state-level net neutrality bill to “eviscerate” its most important provisions for protecting an open internet, California State Assemblymember Miguel Santiago says that both he and his family have been personally harassed by net neutrality supporters. After the bill, SB 822, passed the California Senate on May 31, it needed approval by the Assembly, which like the Senate is under Democratic control. But before the full body could vote on the bill, it was required to pass through the Assembly’s Communications and Conveyance Committee, where Santiago holds the committee chair—and the power to alter legislation that comes with it. Before even holding a public hearing on the bill, Santiago—who received has received about $60,000 in contributions from the large telecommunications corporations that control Americans’ access to the internet—removed key provisions from the bill. The edits were so severe that the author of the net neutrality bill, San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener, charged that his legislation had been “eviscerated,” and he pulled the bill from consideration, effectively ending—at least for the present—California’s chances of creating its own net neutrality rules after the FCC ended Obama-era federal open internet protections on June 11. But a few days after he presented his badly diluted version of the bill to the committee, Santiago says that he is feeling a backlash from California residents angry about the fate of the net neutrality bill, KNTV News in San Francisco reported. "My personal family pictures have been stolen from my social media platforms and used to create memes," Santiago complained. "This is a new low. Progressives don't behave that way. We expect this type of disrespect, fake news, and insults from Trump." One such internet meme that appropriated a picture of Santiago with his family referred to the Los Angeles assemblymember as a “sellout whore,” and said that he was teaching his children to be “just like daddy,” according to the KNTV report. Wiener, the bill’s original author, condemned the attacks on Santiago. “That is fair game to criticize any elected official for the positions that we take,” Wiener told The Santa Rosa Press Democrat.  “It’s not okay to attack people’s families or to engage in personal attacks.” Santiago’s Wikipedia page was hacked, changing the name of his “spouse” from “Celina Santiago” to “AT&T,” according to a report by the tech site Gizmodo. Also, activists projected a slogan referring to Santiago onto the facade of an AT&T corporate building, saying, “Miguel Santiago sold you out for $29,000,” a reference to campaign contributions. Three states have already passed their own net neutrality legislation, but the laws now in place in Vermont, Washington and Oregon are not considered to offer internet protections as strong as those contained in Wiener’s original bill. Governors in six states have signed net neutrality executive orders, though last week Alaska Governor Bill Walker refused to sign an order in that state, saying that he would take “alternative steps to address this issue." The European Union countries instituted net neutrality rules in April of 2016, and this week even the South Asian country of Nepal is taking up a proposal for net neutrality rules there as well, according to the Nepali Sansar news site. Photo via Assemblymember Miguel Santiago web site