You Can Decide the Future of Net Neutrality
Tomorrow, Tuesday February 27, the U.S. Senate votes on the future of Net Neutrality. Either the freedom of the Internet is preserved and people just like you and me can express ourselves without the fear of censorship. Or, we lose and the communications companies will have far too much control over what we can and cannot do.
A recap of what’s at stake. According to the Associated Press ending net neutrality is, “giving Internet providers like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T a free hand to slow or block certain websites and apps or charge websites more for faster speeds.”[1]
As with any issue, there are, of course, two sides. On the one side is Freedom of Speech, a guaranteed Constitutional right under the First Amendment. Those protections include the right to speech no matter how vile or repulsive, speech most of us hate to hear. When service provider Go Daddy cut ties with the Neo Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, after the site mocked victims of August the violence in Charlottesville, VA some questioned if Go Daddy was overstepping its power. The FCC’s repeal of net neutrality says all web traffic does not have to be treated equally.
The other side is that telecoms have been given tremendous power, as the Associated Press article noted. But the piece also stated, “Consumers might not feel the effects of this decision right away. But eventually they could begin to see packages and pricing schemes that would steer them toward some content over others.”[2] Supporters of the FCC’s decision say eliminating net neutrality rules will spur innovation on the Internet. Big telecommunications companies have lobbied for years to overturn the regulations, citing them as heavy-handed and discourages investment in broadband networks.
Tomorrow we can make our voices heard by flooding our senators with why it is so important to keep Net Neutrality. Let’s stand together. Get more information at Fighting for the Future.
[1] Ortitay, Barbara and Arbel, Tail. FCC Votes to end ‘net neutrality’, Associated Press, December 15, 2017.
[2] Ortitay and Arbel.
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