Why everyone is talking about net neutrality and what it actually means

Renderos said net neutrality has been important to social movements such as Black Lives Matter and the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters, both of which have gone online to organize dissent – and the current system guarantees that all voices are equal online.

Internet service providers and cable companies argue that Obama-era regulations enacted in 2015 meant to protect net neutrality are the wrong approach, and that a “light touch” is preferred. So many comments were submitted to the FCC after the comedian John Oliver attacked Pai’s opinions that its comment system collapsed and the regulator has been flooded with fake comments from “people” in support of the weakened rules. Currently, there is no indication that any will, but the net neutrality rules do not preventing these companies from doing so. The fight to protect “net neutrality”. Your friends are more likely to take action if you make this issue personal – share a Facebook post, tweet or video explaining why you care about Net Neutrality, and do not forget to use the #NetNeutrality hashtag.

However, the newspaper says net neutrality is under fire in the USA, as the FCC is now looking to repeal the net neutrality rules introduced in 2015.

So far, however, it appears three of the Internet’s biggest names-Google, Facebook, and Amazon-have yet to take any prominent steps to join the Day of Action, despite earlier pledges they would do so. “PornHub, one of the world’s most visited sites, will also be taking part”.

“It’s possible that these complaints would show that consumers still have issues with their internet service providers, and the rules provide a mechanism in which to remedy that”, Scurato said. “That means slow streaming, which, especially in regards to online porn, is quite problematic as you can imagine”.

While it may seem peculiar that the FCC wants to repeal regulations it introduced just ten years ago, The Independent says the transition from the Obama to Trump administration this year has lead to a rule rethink.

Pai argues that requiring internet service providers to “divert resources” to abiding by the 2015 regulations keeps them from being able to make investments.

“Without net neutrality, the internet will become more like cable TV, where the content you see is what your provider puts in front of you”, says the Battle for the Net Project.

The FCC already has the votes needed to pass the rollback but the comment period remains open until July 17th. “AT&T supports net neutrality in much the way a serial drunk driver supports tougher DUI laws, or a bank robber supports tougher locks”. Without regulations smaller providers could be unable to compete with the giant companies. If they have their way, there’d be nothing to stop your ISP stopping the next Facebook, the next Google, from accessing customers equally.