Thousands of online companies are standing up against possible legislation pertaining to net neutrality. Their goal is to convince congress not to let major cable providers such as Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon write a law that would allow them (and other multi-million dollar companies) to take control of the internet and itemize it, among other things.
What is net neutrality
Net Neutrality is the notion that the internet should be a free and open space for content to grow and be shared without regulation from large corporations. Without this concept in place, the internet could turn into an extension of a pre-existing cable service, where, among other things, users could be charged extra fees for access to things we all use everyday like Twitter, Google, Netflix, etc.
Cable service providers such as Comcast and AT&T would also have the ability to control what you see online, by slowing down or blocking traffic to certain sites.
This could stifle competition and genuine consumer interaction, since the information an individual would have access to would be determined by the company they're giving their money to in order to access the internet in the first place. Many believe this goes against the nature of the internet, a place where people from all over the world can freely interact with one another and share ideas without fear of censorship or oppression of any kind (intellectual or financial).
Believers in net neutrality advertise how this idea of a free internet affects everyone, from online business owners, purveyors with niche topics and products, and everyday internet users.
While the internet's openness and freedom has allowed for several atrocities to occur (i.e. terrorist attacks), supporters still believe that the web should not be turned into an oligarchy, where a small group of companies have control over a field as vast as the internet.
This isn't the first fight
In 2015, former president Barack Obama and the FCC introduced and signed legislation that would ban cable companies from manipulating web experiences for their customers.
As stated before, this would allow individuals to browse the web freely. Under the Trump administration, however, the new FCC leadership is currently seeking to repeal Obama's mandate, which would effectively allow the web to fall into the hands of cable corporations.
Net neutrality day
Today (July 12th), people and organizations all over the internet are banding together to fight the threat against internet freedom, the main way being to contact the FCC directly and demand that the web remain open.
