As a social media lover, self-proclaimed guru and avid poster, net neutrality is a big deal. Not many people even notice it, or have even heard of it. But it has been a hot debate recently. Net Neutrality essentially mandates that internet service providers not charge you extra money for the speed of your Instagram feed to load, your tweet to post, or your Netflix to stream at a convenient speed. You probably don’t notice these things, but will highly appreciate them now, as Net Neutrality will be coming to an end very soon. On April 23rd, 2018, fair internet will die… for the most part.
So what is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality is a set of regulations to secure all information on the internet to be treated equally. Back in December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, repealed the Obama-era rule to make the internet open to all. Now that it has been repealed, the FCC will eliminate rules against slowing down and blocking content and also rules against providers to compute their own content. Like many things on the internet, there are lovers and haters. Telecom companies praised the repeal, but was detested by many consumer advocates and the tech industry. Another downside to the FCC’s repeal is a lot of legal battles in their near future to reverse the repeal.
Should I be worried?
Imagine paying an extra $10, to watch Netflix at a faster speed. This change isn’t sudden, but changes to the internet will happen subtly and gradually. Congress and the public are fighting hard to bring the internet back, so fear not! Read the next section about ways to get involved.
What can I do to help?
Ways you can help the vote against the Net Neutrality repeal are calling your local state senate, signing up for advocacy groups online, and keep informed of the repeal.
You can sign up with Battle for the Net which will immediately connect you to congress. You can stay informed by signing up with Freepress.net. You can educate yourself more on the issue, sign petitions, stay up to date through emails, and have access to the FCC directly. I joined and it has been a great way to get involved.