Meghan Smith
This week in our Com 201 class, we were introduced to the topic of Net Neutrality. In my brief video below, I explain exactly what “Net Neutrality” means, but here’s some background knowledge you should keep in mind first…
ISPs stand for “Internet Service Providers” and are big name companies like Verizon, Comcast, Megapath, etc. Without Net Neutrality, these companies would hold control of the internet traffic.
There are several downfalls for the average internet user. First of all, our content could be censored depending on which sites big-name ISPs want you to be using. They can also slow down our service on smaller sites or competitors. For example, in 2014, Comcast was able to slow down Netflix’s services until they made a deal that Netflix would pay Comcast.
Many internet user have taken it upon themselves to stand up for their internet rights. Over 4 million individuals have commented on the FCC website in order to fight for Net Neutrality. People have also taken the issue to social media, posting content in order to spread awareness of the issue.
In this Tweet, Sonos, a home sound system company, urges the importance of net neutrality for artists in order to be able to work freely, with no restrictions for ISPs. It acted as a response for the #Savethenet Act that the house voted on recently.
All of the support from citizens on the #Savethenet Act proved to be successful. On April 10th, 2019, The House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would restore net neutrality protections that were recently repealed. As for now, internet users can take a breath of relief; net neutrality is back and ready to to return the internet into an even playing field.
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