The Fight for Net Neutrality

The+Fight+for+Net+Neutrality

Kendolyn Davis, Staff Writer

Back in December, threats of the repeal of net neutrality rules sent the nation into massive uproar.

Thousands fought for the rights of internet freedom, but the FCC still made the ultimate decision to repeal these laws. After that, many have already forgotten that the problem still exists.

The recent repeal of critical net neutrality laws by the FCC could have a broad range of consequences, ones that negatively impact both small businesses and Internet user immensely. Although the FCC voted to repeal these laws, the fight is not over. Net neutrality is still very much relevant.

For those who have not been informed, net neutrality rules are those that prevent major Internet providers (such as Verizon and AT&T) from restricting customers access to particular websites. For example, these providers may block you from using certain websites, or even cause them to operate slower as to hinder customer usage.

Without laws in place to prevent this, Internet providers are practically free to interfere with your Internet as they wish.

Net neutrality laws were first put into place during the Obama administration, where former President Barack Obama pledged to advocate for such rules.These laws were even strengthened by the FCC back in 2010, as a way to further protect websites from ruthless internet providers seeking to block them.

However, four years later these protections were struck down by a Federal Appeals Court. A day later, a petition for strong net neutrality rules were created by an anonymous user, and the petition was signed by over 100,000 users. By February 26, 2015, strong net neutrality rules were fully restored.

All of this progress was taken away the moment the FCC made the decision to again repeal these laws in December of 2017.

Despite the lack of media coverage and national attention to the topic since the repeal, the issue still stands. Net neutrality is still here, it still exists, and is still achievable. Recently, Democrats have introduced a resolution to potentially reverse the appeal, one that promises to be long-lasting and durable. Although the measure has no Republican support and must still pass through the Senate and the House, including approval from the nation’s president, there’s still hope for the decades-long fight for net neutrality.

Sources:

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/node/323681

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/01/09/the-effort-to-block-the-fccs-repeal-of-net-neutrality-just-hit-an-important-milestone/23328749/

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/27/democrats-fcc-reverse-net-neutrality-426641