What Net Neutrality Means For You
- The Filter
- Dec 6, 2017
- 2 min read
There has been a giant consensus from the internet that net neutrality should not be destroyed because of one man's greed.
There are still those who have no idea what net neutrality is or what it means to them, some of them sadly have believed the propaganda provided by corporations who benefit stating that it would be good for net neutrality to be repealed.
So for the sake of the internet, I'm here to tell you what it means to those people who ask what is net neutrality and what good does it do for them.
Up until recently, net neutrality was not a thing in India. Internet Service Providers could discriminate between websites and provide different websites of varying speeds. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) could even block websites or make users pay more to use certain websites/services. In 2014, Airtel, an Indian ISP, announced it would charge users more to access VoIP services. VoIP services are services that let you call people through an internet connection. Examples are WhatsApp, Skype, Discord, etc.
In 2014, India saw the effects of an internet without net neutrality.
In 2016, Net Neutrality was put in place where ISPs had to treat every service/website that used the internet equally.
Many supporters of the repeal of net neutrality claim that internet in the US will remain the same. They have no proof. Look at what happened in India before they ruled in favor of Net neutrality.
To answer the question, net neutrality is what allows the internet to remain unregulated and free. It is good for 300 million Americans and tens of thousands of businesses who require the free internet.
Net Neutrality is bad for ten or so companies like Verizon or Sprint who have less freedom.
Should the government (FCC) try to help benefit 10 companies or ten thousand?
Or should the government (FCC) try to help benefit the entire American people over a couple wealthy people?
I think the answer is pretty obvious.
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