Over the past couple years there has a been a less than heard about war. This war is on Net Neutrality, which is a term used for the freedom of being able to use any content the user (YOU) decides is worth their time. Now this might seem completely common sense, and maybe you don't want to waste your time on this, then listen up. This is not common sense for the people making the official decisions, and your freedom is at a dangerous risk. Internet Service Providers (Or ISP's for short) are vying for the control over what type of content should be sent to you as consumers. Meaning they can be persuaded by intakes of money, selectively advertising their services over others, or even completely preventing you from going to a site you want to see. Now you could of course install Tor Browser, a tool people use to explore the internet anonymously, and forget about the entire situation.
I implore you though to conversely stand up for our freedom and freely express your notions because if we don't stand up now we may not even have a chance in the future.
Take a moment right now to go to this site and fill out the FCC response!
The Internet's Response
The internet is going insane with such an influx of Youtubers bashing the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), to some simply pleading the population to stand up for our rights. The internet is a wonderful tool that allows us to communicate on many channels, share ideas and content, connect to customers for business (and know from them what they want), or simply watch cat videos if we wanted.
The key point is what we want is what comes out of this. Do you want everything to be regulated, and you only being able to view sites that the government allows? We already have to deal search engines like Google controlling what we search. They literally may be an amazing site to use to look things up, but they sometimes misuse that power and only show their content. Microsoft had gotten a lot of complaints because on their main operating system (Windows 10) they heavily pushed their own products over other programs. Lets say you wanted to use Google Chrome, they would go out of their way with pop ups, notifications, and even changing the default browser to keep you on their own "Microsoft Edge".
Freedom of Choice
We can only do what we are doing online right now. Which means if we want to keep our freedom (not just in the United States, a lot of countries all around the world are trying to do the same thing), then we must stand up for what we believe in. This may just be our generation's version of the Boston Tea Party.
Illusion of Choice
The FCC is going to try and spin this whole situation as if it is a good thing. Any government will do just that, but the thing is you must look at the details yourself and truly see the big picture.
We are all about making a change on this website, this is literally the reason we are in existence, and we will do everything we can to make a difference in the matter. We can only hope that EACH and EVERY one of you does the same!
This video here is a great way to end this post, with John Oliver's brilliant explanation on the situation, and vocal stance to sway you into the fold. We can come together and #makeachange!
Keep in mind this is a comedy show, so the exuberant nature is one of exciting entertainment, simply enjoy the show and learn as much as you can!
Thanks for reading, and please share, comment, and make a change in the world around you!
-Dustin PolyULCian