Net Neutrality

On Thursday afternoon the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a plan to
repeal net neutrality protections previously put in place by the Obama administration.

The controversial plan led to several protests from the tech industry, consumer advocacy groups
and even some Republican members of Congress who advised the FCC to cancel the vote.

Although the net neutrality vote was briefly interrupted due to a security threat forcing FCC
commissioners and the audience to evacuate, chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai quickly got the
voting underway once everyone reconvened.

Approved by the FCC in 2015, the net neutrality rules were intended to keep the internet open
and fair. Even internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon were explicitly prohibited
from speeding up or slowing down traffic from specific websites and apps.

Under the new plan, the FCC would do eliminate rules preventing internet providers from
blocking or slowing down access to online content. The FCC would also eliminate a rule
stopping providers from prioritizing their own content.

Pai, appointed to run the FCC by President Trump, has been a longtime critic of the net
neutrality rules. Last month, he pitched his repeal proposal as a way stop the federal government
from “micromanaging the internet.”

“It is not going to destroy the internet. It is not going to end the internet as we know it. It is not
going to kill democracy. It is not going to stifle free expression online,” Pai said in his remarks
Thursday.

While the fate of the internet remains uncertain, the controversy surrounding net neutrality will
continue as we continue to develop as a modern technological society.