The Freedom of Cyberspace

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The internet is a place of expression, as bestowed by the amendments, under freedom of speech. However, that fundamental right is being threatened, as new bills being written allows for the environment of internet to be profited. The concept of such is that to access the internet, a consumer has to go through an Internet Service Providers (ISP), whom control the access the internet by the consumer as well as content hosts/services. There is a defiant conflict in that content hosts/services such as YouTube, Amazon, and Google need ISP to provide them with a direct line to their consumer base. However, as anyone with an internet connect knows, depending on the internet bundle/plan, the connection to sites such as YouTube, Amazon, Google can either be fast or slow. Although this is natural, as someone who doesn’t need fast connection can opt for a more reasonable pricing plan to accommodate their needs and vice versa for someone who needs fast internet.
              Now, you might wonder whats the importance of this issue then, as consumers continue to pay for internet access anyhow. The key difference in the new bills being written is that it allows ISP to charge consumers and content hosts/services further. Rather than treating YouTube and Amazon consumer the same by “delivering” each site’s content to a consumer in the same time, ISP can charge YouTube a premium to get their content to you faster. Furthermore, the issue doesn’t go one way, ISP can also charge consumer a premium as well to delivers Netflix shows to you, in the meantime, slows down connection to consumers who didn’t pay up. This also creates the issue of power, the power to slows down information to website that ISP don’t agree with, whether that’s climate change, bad press on ISPs, or corruptions. Leading to the suppression of freedom of speech. Therefore, it is urged that the FCC, Federal Communication Commission, protect our rights to freedom of the internet, net neutrality. In the link below, it directs to the FCC consumer complaints directory, let your voice be heard to protect what you’re using to view this article as well as future articles.

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

Figure above: An illustration of the possible monthly plan to access certain website on top of monthly internet plans without net neutrality. 







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