The U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, with net neutrality acting as this force on the internet. With the recent hearings in Congress net neutrality will no longer serve as freedom of speech for the internet.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just repealed the Obama-administration initiative, ending net neutrality starting this week. Last year the commission voted 3-2 to eliminate net neutrality, that was enacted in 2015 for a fair-competition internet environment.
With net neutrality forcing internet service providers (ISPs) to treat all information equally, barring providers from prioritizing certain content over others or blocking web traffic. This will also change government regulation over the internet, removing strict government oversights and require ISPs to inform the public about their practices.
Critics are saying that the new-found control for ISPs control over what users can see, but CNN is saying that this change will take time with multiple lawsuits and possible legislation change. This can also allow ISPs to make web pages load faster or slower, to encourage or deter users from gaining access to content.
In the past the ISP, Verizon, was not permitted to promote websites owned under Verizon but will now be able to (as long as they disclose this to their users). This issue has the democrats and republicans posing the problems behind net neutrality.
The democrats argue that net neutrality protects customers, while ensuring ISPs don’t abuse their power. The republican party makes the argument that these policies are strict and impose unreasonable costs to businesses, with this being an example of government overreach. The ISP companies support net neutrality, but want to embrace this change to test new business models.
The new change in regulation has yet to show results of positive or negative impact, but only time will tell. Check out the video above for more on this repeal for net neutrality.
