Net Neutrality is a concept foreign to many young people, assuming it either won’t impact them, or the effect of its destruction will be minor enough to brush off without any real thought. This could not be further from the truth, as the impact will take only 30 days to take hold and the moment it does the entire landscape of the internet will be changed as we know it.

So, what is Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the reason the internet is as free as it is. We can say what we want, search what we want, and browse whatever website we want without Internet Service Providers (ISPs) being able to slow internet speeds or block websites all together. It is why all information on the internet is thought of as equal regardless of what website it came from. It is why the internet is the pool of endless and neutral information it is that can be accessed at no extra cost. However, the FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, who was reappointed by the Trump Administration, plans on repealing Net Neutrality, claiming it would make the internet a more open ended and freer space for both creators and viewers.

This could not be further from the truth.

Innovation and communities on the internet would collapse, the internet would no longer be a place of freedom and self expression. It would be a desolate wasteland of sponsored advertisements, slow videos, and ISPs getting richer by the second. The destruction of Net Neutrality would only help ISPs and nobody else. No information on the internet would be equal unless they paid ISPs enough money to win them over.  There is no more open internet. The full expanse of the internet would no longer be accessible. News websites could be effectively be run by the FCC and nobody else, not even themselves.

The internet would no longer be a community run scene, the providers would have total control over it. For the internet to continue being what it is, the information needs to be open and accessible by everyone. The World Wide Web is only world wide with Net Neutrality.