If you’ve already heard about the net neutrality issue going on at the moment, you might be a confused about what it is, or what could happen once a decision is made. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s important that you listen up. While the fight goes on in the government, its impacts could affect all of us, a lot more than we might even expect.
Let’s start with the item at the center of all of this: net neutrality.
What is it?
It’s defined as “the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.”
In other words, net neutrality ensures that certain Internet providers won’t “control” the Internet. Providers can do this by “throttling,” which is slowing down an Internet service so much that you essentially won’t be able to access it. So, for example, if Comcast is your provider and they have some beef with Netflix, they can make Netflix buffer and provide poor quality videos, so that eventually, you give up and stop using Netflix. Net neutrality prevents this from happening on a large scale.
Why does it matter?
The Internet is not meant to be a place for corporations to dictate what we see or to make money at our expense. It’s a platform for anyone to express themselves in different ways – even though this has turned into lots of memes, cat videos, and unnecessary quizzes. It’s supposed to be a place where we can find the information we need to make informed decisions and to form opinions – and that can’t happen if information is blocked. If a corporation is capable of blocking information it doesn’t like from reaching the public, we’re clearly dealing with a First Amendment crisis.
So, what’s going on?
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ajit Pai, has proposed to scrap the net neutrality rules that are in place, and it has caused some serious debate. He’s defending his decision by claiming that this deregulation will restore Internet freedom, claiming that the rules in place “stifle innovation and competition.” But no one seems to be buying into this.
What this all comes down to is money. Without net neutrality, providers can charge their customers more for “fast lane” access, while slowing down all other routes so that the more expensive option becomes the only one. Accessing the sites that have become integral to our daily lives (both socially and professionally) will become one of two things: either more difficult or more expensive to access.
Ro Khanna, a Congressman from California, tweeted a picture of an Internet plan you can buy in Portugal, giving us a glimpse of what a possible future could look like without net neutrality. It’s essentially a splintered Internet, where the websites and apps we use are divided into different categories – and each has to be paid for separately. Paying for one or two packages each month doesn’t look too bad, but in order to have access to everything we do now, the total adds up – and quickly.
Basically, the Internet could become something like cable – you pay monthly for specific packages and get the channels that you pay for. No one seems to have a problem with cable, so why is this a big deal when it comes to the Internet?
It’s because the Internet is not meant to have “subscribers.” We’re not supposed to pay monthly fees to access sites that allow the spread of information. A few small group of companies are not supposed to be making money off of every consumer trying to access the Internet. There isn’t supposed to be a “fast lane” to access content that a business wants you to see. There isn’t supposed to be a cost to access your email.
What can we do about it?
Use your voice. Here’s where the classic, “Call your Congressman!” comes into play. Call, write letters, and get in touch with the politicians that represent you. This may not always lead to results – or quick ones, at the least – but it’s their job to listen to what you have to say. You just have to speak up.
While we wait for those results to come through, there are petitions you can sign in the meantime, and social media is always a useful tool. Tell people what’s going on, share articles, use the tools at your disposal – we may not be able to have such access in the near future.