The Destruction of Net Neutrality

By: Brenna Lewis    Feb. 4, 2018

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Net Neutrality: the principle that internet providers must enable all internet content/applications no matter the provider, without blocking or favoring a certain one. Everyone took it for granted, until the FCC (and more specifically the chairman, Ajit Pai) thought it would be a great idea to take away all of the laws that ensured this service would be upheld.  This issue is extremely relevant and worthy of review due to the vast number of internet users today and the importance of the internet as it stands, a tool that gives us free speech, communication and a free marketplace. At first, many people did not notice what was occurring, however as the day for a repeal of net neutrality grew closer, more and more individuals discovered and subsequently where outraged by the entire affair. Thus, a huge internet movement took place.

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Back in November, Ajit Pai first submitted his

reasons for going against the net neutrality

rules, but it wasn’t until December that some

senators called for the delay of the bill based

upon the large number of fraudulent comments that

the FCC had been receiving. Evidently, the

feedback system had been corrupted, causing over

approximately 1 million fake anti net neutrality

comments. At this point, the internet was getting

involved. Many people joined the effort, fighting

to keep their internet freedoms. When an attorney

attempted to get information regarding the FCCs

comment system, the organization refused, leading

to further suspicion from the American people as a whole. Among the millions of angry people, twenty-one leaders in technology (including a co-founder of apple and the CEO of betaworks) came together to write a letter concerning net neutrality to the FCC. They titled it “Internet Pioneers and Leaders Tell the FCC: You Don’t Understand How the Internet Works.” In it they claimed that people writing these laws did not adequately understand the internet, ignored over 23 million comments from citizens countrywide, failed to provide enough information regarding the matter, and more.

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After this even more people spoke out against the abolition of these laws, including many senators. A majority of these senators attempted to have the vote delayed, calling the plan “radical and reckless”. Even John Oliver was a part of the resistance, encouraging viewers to submit comment on the FCC website. However, despite resistance and opposition from pretty much everyone who knew it was happening, on December 14, the FCC officially voted to kill net neutrality. Although they certainly had their own justifications, claiming that “internet providers don’t favor/block certain websites very often” and (somehow) “it’s a form of censorship”. Regardless it must be noted that Ajit Pai, the biggest supporter of the abolition of net neutrality, was a former lawyer for Verizon, one of the internet providers who would (without net neutrality rules) be able to block or favor certain internet content of their choosing.

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All in all, it appears that the entire affair was quite rushed, and despite the fact that literally millions of people opposed it, it was over in a month- and it seems that many of these people have already forgotten that it happened. Although the internet continues to run in much the same way as it previously did, providers now have the power to limit access in the ways they see fit. However, they are smart enough to realize that doing so right after the vote when everyone is still quite angry about the thing would not be a great idea. But if they start doing it slowly- little by little, who would even notice? This question is one that will most likely be answered in the coming years, however the issue and movement itself occurred in 2017, and was a considerably important occurrence while it was happening. The scale of this issue, seeing that it affected all internet users in the US (a very large percent of the population) is very great, which is the reason that this review is so essential. Internet freedom is something I believe to be a right of the American people. This is why, despite the fact that the law was passed, we must keep fighting.