Today, everything takes place online. All our stores are online, all our media content is online, all our news and social connections, job opportunities and data, all of it takes place online. The internet is one of the few places online where, for the most part, everyone is on even footing so long as you have a computer and an internet connection.
Why is it important?
The net neutrality war stands to take that away, and that has a big part to play in why Republicans have chosen to align against net neutrality. Because by doing so, they will have the opportunity to turn the internet into a medium like the rest of society - one where your voice and access directly correlates to your financial situation.
Just like in the rest of society, the poor will be shut out from the conversation. Public places like libraries that provide free internet access will have to decide what level of access they have the budget for and inequality will be enforced through yet another medium.
Situation in rural areas
Today, poor rural communities already find that they live in a world separate from richer, urban areas when it comes to internet access by virtue of a lack of infrastructure, as well as inaccessible costs. A majority of residents in rural areas don’t have broadband connection, not because it’s not available - although in many cases, it isn’t - but because they just can’t afford the monthly payments. And in areas where economic poverty has already hit hard, uneven access to the internet only furthers the divide. As a result, a lot of people will learn how to unblock Netflix and other streaming services, and start cutting their cable connections.
Preserving net neutrality
States like Washington and Oregon, which lean bluer, have been taking steps to preserve net neutrality in their own states even as the federal law is set to drop throughout the United States. In Congress, mostly Democratic senators are moving to try to block the repeal, and a San Francisco appeals court has said it plans to hear a challenge against the FCC decision, which shows that virtually everyone is fighting back to preserve net neutrality.
A Dec. 2017 poll found than more than 80 percent of voters supported preserving net neutrality, suggesting that the move to repeal it truly comes from nothing more than the CEOs, business owners and legislators behind the internet industry looking to gain financially from the repeal. Even Republicans supported preserving net neutrality by 79 percent, making this a shockingly bipartisan issue in the United States.
Unfair restrictions
The quote unquote little people of the country all agree that the internet should remain fair and open. A handful of Republican legislators and Ajit Pai believe that the net neutrality laws were just too unfairly restrictive to companies, who promise to definitely not do anything to impose slow or fast lanes in the future, but just don’t want any laws binding them to that commitment.
Conclusion on Net Neutrality
This is a targeted attack from the corporate class to turn the internet into another medium that reflects the inequality of the world. Net neutrality doesn’t need to be dismantled - it needs to be preserved and enhanced. The internet is a right, a necessity and worth fighting for.