The Pros And Cons Of Net Neutrality

Think about your life. What is one thing that you absolutely cannot live without? Is it a cellphone or a tablet? Is it an Ipad? Maybe it’s a laptop. In all of these devices, there is only one thing in common, and that is the internet. Unfortunately, the way the internet works is in danger. People are fighting over the one thing that could make or break the internet. Net neutrality! Many more people are starting to debate more often about net neutrality, and more attention is getting called to it. Net neutrality plays an important role in every internet user's life, so they should learn about both sides of the debate.

Net neutrality is keeping the internet open to everyone and protecting people’s rights, such as the freedom of speech. Many

The job of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is to only put the internet into your home, they can’t control it or do anything else with it (The New Republic). ISPs can’t charge you for the speed of your internet. They can’t give certain people “extra benefits”, like the ability to access certain websites at a faster rate. Internet Service Providers can’t block content if they don’t like it (The New Republic). If net neutrality was gone, then the ISPs can charge to give you the service, as well as charge you for the speed you receive it at. They would basically be able to do everything they wouldn’t normally be able to. If they came up with new ways to charge people extra or new ways to tighten their control over the internet, there would be no net neutrality to halt them in their tracks. With net neutrality, the internet will keep working the way it has been since it’s creation. The ISPs will only give you the means to access the internet. They cannot control what you say online or what you look up. The ISPs would be controlling the internet if they were able to do these types of things, greatly hampering people’s lives, since many people depend on the internet in this age. Opposers of net neutrality would like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the internet for the first time (Conda). It seems that the bill died in the

Net neutrality has been a core democratizing principle of the internet since the day it was born (Pogue). Net neutrality has been a core democratic principle of the internet since the day it was created because it lets ideas spread. The ability to share ideas is one of the important pillars of democratization. Net neutrality keeps citizens informed about what is happening in their government, another important pillar of democracy. Citizens can show their displeasure of certain policies or about a candidate. There might be some people that say obscenities online, but it is not worth controlling the internet to only block out those few people rather than leaving it open so that everyone has a say in their government. In addition to slowing down the democratic process, net neutrality laws would put costly burdens on the telecommunications industry and slow down the growth of the internet and technology (Conda). For this reason, people believe that Internet service should be treated just like phone service. Controlling the internet would greatly slow down the spread of ideas, as well as the growth of the internet and technology. As technology advances, new doors are opened in many different areas, and people’s lives can improve exponentially. Everyone is starting to rely more on the internet, and it’s growing quickly (Conda). People are even leading better lives now