Net Neutrality is being challenged and it will affect us all as students, employees, teachers, and informed citizens. Net Neutrality is what guarantees your right as an internet user to having fair and equal access to all website found on the world wide web. The laws prevent internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from blocking, speeding up connections to certain websites and slowing speeds to others (known as “throttling”). This set of laws came during the Obama era, as a way to provide the American people a fair chance to access all parts of the internet. If net neutrality is to be repealed, internet providers would have the right to block and throttle websites, giving them the right to control what you see based on their beliefs and views changing the American people’s ability to view all sides of the story. Internet providers would also be allowed to charge more to access certain websites and charging companies more to have the speeds of their websites raised.
The major problem with net neutrality being repealed is that no one truly knows what internet providers would do. It would be up to what they want to do, internet could become like cable TV, where you have to pay for specific websites and access speeds, it could come to the point where internet start controlling what their customers view. It could all stay the same, or it could be a mix of all options. We won’t know until it’s too late to do anything about it.
As of now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted for the repeal of net neutrality 3-2. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel voted against the repeal and gave very strong statements about their pity on their fellow commissioners and how they have betrayed Americans. “Each of us raised our hands when we were sworn in as FCC Commissioners, took an oath and promised to uphold our duties and responsibilities ‘to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination… a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges,” stated Commissioner Clyburn. “Today the FCC majority officially abandons that pledge and millions have taken note.”
Though the FCC has voted to repeal, there is still one more vote that has to occur before the repeal is official. Congress has to pass or veto the repeal with a majority vote in 60 days after the FCC vote. There is still hope for us to have fair and equal access to the world wide web. If you would like to help the cause, contact your congressmen by letter, email, phone, or even in person. If you would like to help the cause of stopping the net neutrality repeal and don’t know where to start visit battleforthenet.com. There, you can send a letter from their website and they can provide you with phone numbers to call, even a script to help you talk to your congressmen. Net neutrality is in the hands of our congressmen and we need to stand up and tell them what we want them to vote. It doesn’t matter what age, gender, sexual preference, or race you are, they are there to represent you and for them to do that, they need to know what you believe. Let’s end the repeal of net neutrality. Together.