If you haven´t been living under a rock these past few months, chances are you´ve come across people discussing the topic of Net Neutrality on various social media. You have? Great! But do you really know what it means, or why are plenty of people talking about it all of a sudden? To fully grasp the concept of what´s been happenning, you´d have to do your own extensive research (since the matter has gotten close to none attention and media coverage here in Czech republic), and ain´t nobody got time for that, am I right? Or maybe you think it´s none of our business? I, for one, wouldn´t be so sure about that. Not only should we care about what´s happenning in the world no matter what, but as soon as the United States vote off Net Neutrality, other countries might follow suit…. and who´s to say Czech republic won´t be one of them? And that´s exactly why I asked one of my friends from the USA to give us a little insight on the whole situation. So, without further ado, let´s see what Abbey (19, Massachusetts) has to say. Enjoy!
Alright. First of all, could you please explain to our readers what exactly is net neutrality?
Net Neutrality simply means the internet has to treat all websites equally and cannot make people pay for or censor certain things due to what they are and what they provide. For example, Twitter is protected by net neutrality, but if a law was passed to end net neutrality it could either be censored or view certain accounts you would need to pay a fee. The internet could also choose to slow down the speed at which you view website and charge you a fee to speed things up.
What would have to happen for net neutrality to be cancelled?
For Net Neutrality to be canceled or terminated, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) would have to have a meeting in which officials of each party (Democratic and Republican) vote on whether to keep Net Neutrality or end it. This meeting has already taken place and it was agreed upon to end it. However, it still has to be taken to Congress and it will then be finalized.
How would that affect you personally?
I use social media as not only an outlet for entertainment but for news, alerts, and information. If Net Neutrality ends that is no longer an option for me. Also, almost all my school work and homework is done online. Without access to the websites and applications I use so frequently, it will affect my academic career negatively.
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