The Internet Association has debuted a meme-heavy website to educate consumers about the upcoming "Net Neutrality Day of Action"—a planned online protest against a Federal Communications Commission proposal to roll back net neutrality standards currently in place.

Google, Amazon, Reddit and other Internet giants plan to hold a one-day protest Wednesday against the FCC proposal. Most will display banners prominently on their sites urging consumers to "save net neutrality."

During the Obama administration, the FCC enacted new policies meant to keep internet service providers from intentionally slowing down online traffic to certain websites and services. Now the commission under chairman and Trump-appointee Ajit Pai has proposed rolling back those rules, which service providers say are burdensome to implement.

Internet companies fear that without net neutrality protections, service providers could charge them exorbitant fees for faster connections to their sites and slow down to access to services that compete with their own. IA represents many of the companies participating in the protest.

"Without strong, enforceable net neutrality rules in place, innovation online will be stifled, consumers will have fewer and worse choices across the web, and the next generation of ground-breaking websites and apps will never come to be," IA CEO Michael Beckerman said.

The upcoming protest is not the first time internet companies have used their platforms to weigh in on federal policy. Several participated in an "internet blackout" in 2012 that convinced lawmakers to kill two bills aimed at cracking down on online piracy. Many of the same companies also participated in "Internet Slowdown Day" in 2014, which encouraged internet users to contact the FCC in support of net neutrality.

Hoping to generate the same public response, IA has created a "Save the Open Internet" site to make its case for preserving the Obama-era rules. Visitors can watch a short video on the subject or have it explained through a series of animated memes. http://iadayofaction.org

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