Many countries have made net neutrality a basic freedom. Yet now, the FCC is planning to make sure the U.S. is not one of those countries.
Today, the internet is classified as a “common carrier” in the U.S., which forces telecommunications companies and internet service providers to treat all content more or less equally. If Ajit Pai, chair of the FCC and former Verizon lawyer, has his way, the internet could be reclassified by the end of the summer, replacing internet freedom with a corporate free-for-all of greed and political corruption.
Though the internet was born in the U.S., our ISPs are also slower and more expensive than other countries, so maybe it’s no surprise that we’re behind the curve in net neutrality, too.
Chile became the first country to pass a law guaranteeing net neutrality in 2010, banning ISPs from arbitrarily blocking or otherwise hindering legal online communications. Providers also aren’t allowed to favor one kind of content over another. According to a 2013 investigation by Digital Rights: Latin America And Caribbean, more users came online while prices for access fell after the new regulations came into effect.
The Netherlands was next, with the Dutch passing their first net neutrality law in 2011.
Learn more from “Redacted Tonight” with Lee Camp, “Our Internet Will Be Destroyed In The Coming Weeks & No One’s Talking About It“:
https://youtu.be/YBkMRDbgAY4
