Net Neutrality. It’s a word that has been thrown around so much in the news not only in the past few days, but in the past few years as well. They’re the principals that have helped us to maintain a free internet for so long, and now they’re under threat. We all want the freedom to do and see what we want on the internet, but if the recent attack on these policies succeed, we may find that this will no longer be an option. Not only this, but with the new policies it may be even harder to find important, honest information on the issues we care about. So, what exactly is net neutrality, why is it under attack, and how can we save it?
What is net neutrality?
First and foremost, we need to know what net neutrality is before we try and protect it. Many have heard of the term before, but don’t know too much about what it actually is. Essentially, according to battle forthenet.com (one of leading supporters of net neutrality), it is “The principle that Internet providers…should not control what we see and do online…[It] prohibit[s] internet providers from blocking, throttling, and giving paid prioritization for sites that pay, and slow lanes for everyone else.” These rules keep the internet fair for everyone by giving all of us an even playing field. They prevent companies from having to pay extra to connect to their users, which means WE can view whatever we want.
What’s happening?
Net neutrality has always been an important part of the internet. Two years ago, in 2015, the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) OFFICIALLY established these net neutrality rules to ensure the internet remains free and safe. But now, two years later, the same commission is trying to take them away. Why? Well, the new chairman of the FCC was a top lawyer at Verizon. And it just so happens that Verizon, being an internet provider, would stand to benefit the most from these new policies. If passed, the changes would allow companies like Verizon to charge extra for websites to work faster on their internet. Now, they already do this to an extent, as consumers like us pay more for a faster internet speed. But this is different, much different. Instead of the consumer paying one price for a set internet speed for all websites, these policies would make it so that the providers can charge each individual website for different speeds.
What does this mean?
The implications of these policy changes are huge, and benefit no one except for the people creating them. If they are put in place, internet providers can essentially bully any website into paying millions of dollars just to escape the “slow lane” that they’ve created for them. By allowing the providers to control speeds for different websites, they can force a site to pay any sum of money to keep their speeds fast for the consumer. This could result in taxes on popular services like Netflix, Instagram, and Snapchat just to name a few. The companies behind them, if forced to pay millions to keep their internet speeds fast, need to make up that money somewhere, and that is where we the consumer start to pay. If these net neutrality changes pass, you might start to see things like this when trying to access your favorite social media:
Credit: https://twitter.com/jacksfilms
And not only this, but if these internet providers are allowed to charge ANY website, they can limit our exposure to important information. They can bury startup websites under millions of dollars in costs for faster speeds. After all, no one wants to visit a slow website, right? And this poses a HUGE problem for our world. Imagine a scenario where companies can effectively silence people by slowing down their website’s connection. That means that the facts and truths behind these companies could be forcefully hidden. A company like Nestlé, notorious for their terrible palm oil practices and human rights violations, could pay Verizon (or another internet provider) to slow down the speeds of websites speaking out against them, silencing their voices and ensuring that these companies can continue to do terrible things. It’s a scary future, and one that draws closer as I write this. Unless we do something about it of course.
What can we do?
Congress is voting on these policies on December 14th, meaning we only have a few precious weeks to take action. And while ultimately the decision is up to them, it’s our job to do as much as we can to protect the internet we love so much. So what can we do? Well, I don’t have too much space to talk about this, and I don’t want to split this into two parts as the deadline already draws so close. So, here is a quick summary of the things we can do to protect our internet:
Sign a petition- there are many petitions in the internet against net neutrality, and signing one can help show your support for the issue. However, I would do this in combination with another method, as petitions are not always the best way to make change.
Write a letter to Congress- writing a personalized message to Congress (or your representative specifically) can help to make a lot of change, especially in when done in bulk. It’s important to let our representatives know what the American people think because, after all, they are supposed to be representing us. You can write your own message at www.battleforthenet.com.
Call Congress- it’s hard to say no to someone when you are talking directly to them. Calling Congress (or your representative) to let them know that you won’t stand for these policies could also help to make them change their minds. Again, you can call at www.battleforthenet.com
Attend a protest- there have been and will be numerous protests defending net neutrality, and participating in one of them is a great way to show your support. While you can typically find information on these protests with a simple search, you can find information on recent ones at www.battleforthenet.com
As you can probably tell, www.battleforthenet.com is the hub for people wanting to protect net neutrality. I highly suggest you visit it for more information.
Conclusion
If we don’t act soon, net neutrality might soon be a thing of the past. Soon, you might have to pay to visit your favorite websites, and because of this the voices of millions will be silenced. Companies will be able to continue their atrocities, without anyone being able to talk out against them. This is America, and we should all be able to say and do what we want to. But if these net neutrality rules are taken away, no one on the internet will be able to do that without money. If you use the internet, which all of you reading this do, then this affects you. We can’t pretend we won’t be affected, because this encompasses the ENTIRE internet (at least the one in America). These new policies have to be stopped, and the ones in place must be upheld. We need a free internet to communicate with each other and to ensure that we can make smart and informed decisions, especially on the most important issues of our time. The internet is vital. We can’t let it be taken away.
All credit for information used in this post goes to:
https://www.battleforthenet.com/
https://www.fightforthefuture.org/
https://www.wired.com/2015/11/comcast-may-have-found-a-major-net-neutrality-loophole/
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/02/verizons-mobile-video-wont-count-against-data-caps-but-netflix-will/
https://medium.com/free-press/the-fcc-s-net-neutrality-order-protects-internet-freedom-by-restoring-the-law-9092f9f5a99f
Images:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/19/these-are-the-arguments-against-net-neutrality-and-why-theyre-wrong/
https://boingboing.net/2017/09/20/sign-the-open-letter-european.html
http://gsnetworks.org/blog/net-neutrality-day-action/
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/342104-verizon-wireless-tcpa-class-action-settlement-checks-mailed/
https://twitter.com/jacksfilms
https://halliemitchellartanddesign.wordpress.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress
https://www.thebalance.com/cover-letter-format-2060205
https://www.politico.com/gallery/2014/05/net-neutrality-protests/001826-026109.html
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/net-neutrality
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