Today was the voting on whether net neutrality should be repealed. Net neutrality is the agreement which keeps all websites running at the same speed. For instance, it guarantees that anyone can access a free blog website and YouTube, and those two websites will load for the same amount of time. Sadly enough, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality.
Although this isn’t a final death sentence for net neutrality, it’s the major first step in repealing it, and we should all be worried.
What does this mean for you? It means that your internet providers can decide how long it takes to load one website, compared to another one. For example, T-Mobile could speed up internet lanes for Netflix and slow down internet lanes for Hulu because they have an exclusive partnership with Netflix. A lot of things could change, depending on what service provider you have. Ajit Pai, the chairman of the FCC, released his plan for repealing net neutrality yesterday, 13 Dec. 2017. You can read his full plan here. However, in this past week, social media has blown up over defending net neutrality. Whether it be Twitter, Instagram, or even Facebook, many people have expressed their hate for the repeal. After the results of the voting for net neutrality were announced (a few hours ago), the Freepress Action Fund took it upon themselves to help people gain a voice to oppose its repeal. Please click on the link and help fight against the voting today. After all, if we don’t fight against it, it could mean that we’d have to pay more to access some of our favorite websites. And it’s not just that, blog writers, like me, should be worried because we might have less traffic than ever before. Most of us could be greatly impacted because of this decision; one of the best things about the internet is that it keeps us in touch with our friends and families living abroad. Would you pay extra to ensure that your message gets sent quickly to them? And, besides that, what if you’re signing up for classes online? Is it fair that your education should get delayed because you aren’t paying a premium fee?
You can read more about its repeal on the New York Times.
