Recently the Chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, has showed his intention to remove net neutrality rules designed to prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from controlling what people can or cannot see. To fully understand the impact of a decision like this, one first has to understand what net neutrality actually is. Net neutrality is a very general term, used to refer to laws that prevent ISPs from treating seperate entities on the internet differently. Practices restricted by net neutrality laws include having paid access to specific websites rather than the entirety of the internet, which would be taken from the consumer, or a fee on the parent company of a website to allow access to said website. If the website owner or the consumer does not want to pay such a fee, they will not be able to put up content or view it. This is counter to the purpose and function of the internet, which is meant to be something that anyone can access. Without net neutrality, there is nothing to stop a company from paying an ISP to block access to one of its competitors, which heavily favors large, established companies without similarly sized competition, like Amazon. This means that startup companies will have a much more difficult time becoming relevant, and consumers will not have the benefit of multiple options and competitivity between online companies. As this is a plan almost entirely championed by Republican legislators and Cabinet members, and one of the main talking points Republicans use to support their platform is competitivity and consumer choice to ensure that the free market creates the ideal atmosphere for the consumer. These effects have led to enormous popular support for net neutrality rules, to such an extent that anti net neutrality opinions can barely be found on the internet. If you enjoy the internet, call your congressperson and tell them to block the repeal of net neutrality rules.
