After causing a great deal of uproar in the technology industry, the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial “Restoring Internet Freedom” order came into effect on 23 April 2018. The order repealed the Obama administration’s 2015 ruling on net neutrality and has been called “the end of the free internet” by its most fervent critics. But what exactly is net neutrality and why should we care about the issue?
In short, net neutrality refers to the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T should treat all web traffic equally. The 2015 rules were implemented to enforce this idea with stricter rules and increased regulation regarding discriminatory web traffic treatment. The removal of these rules reintroduced the possibility for ISPs to speed up, slow down, or outright block content for their customers at will. The most pessimistic critics of the repeal have expressed fears of censorship and inequality, while the less apocalyptic visions of a world without net neutrality involve increased prices for internet users, and an overall decrease in the quality of the customer experience due to confusing bundling of service packages or slower connections on competing services. Although the battle for net neutrality is being fought in the U.S., the issue has global implications due to the internet being a worldwide phenomenon: if American “internet culture” is damaged by the loss of net neutrality, the effects will be felt by consumers and audiences all over the world.
It is widely accepted that paid prioritization would be detrimental to smaller websites and businesses, as only the big ones could afford “fast-lane” service and incentivize traffic to themselves. The big winners of the repeal are the major cable companies who now have less regulation to worry about in their internet services. For President Trump and the Republican party, in turn, it’s another symbolic victory of reversing Obama-era legislation. The repeal then mainly serves corporate interests and Republican sensibilities, however much the FCC leadership would have you believe that the issue is non-partisan.
The FCC voted to pass the repeal order last December despite criticism from the tech industry, but this has not impeded activist movements from keeping the fight going. One of the last attempts to undo the FCC’s ruling is through a Congressional Review Act, which would allow Congress to deem the repeal unlawful. To pass Senate, the Review Act would only need one more vote, though it seems unlikely that it would ultimately make its way past the president. Several states are also in the process of drafting their own laws that would bring back the 2015 rules, but it is still unclear whether this kind of legislation will be deemed legal by the federal government.
At the time of writing it is unclear whether the efforts to undo the “Restoring Internet Freedom” order will be successful. The end of the internet as we know it may not be upon us quite yet, however, as the buzz around the issue should restrain ISPs from implementing abusive changes in their services for a while in fear of invoking the internet-using public’s ire. Perhaps pressure from citizens and the states will eventually make the FCC go back on its decision, although as of now it seems clear that we will need to wait for a change of administration in the Oval Office for any real change to happen.