Earlier this week, Ajit Pai, the head of the FCC, made a few jokes about how he and Verizon, his former employer, came up with this big plan to get him in charge of the FCC, and help out his former employer along with other major corporations that would stand to be benefitted by a less-free internet. I shit you not, that actually happened:
To give context on why Pai's "joke" isn't that funny, Pai is in charge of deciding whether or not December 14th will be the end of net neutrality, rules that effectively prevent major corporations- like Verizon, again, Pai's former employer- from selecting what websites their consumers can see, and controlling what speed internet you have in order to access said content. As of right now, it seems pretty certain Pai will succeed in ending it, which is at best an annoyance, and at worst a incredible display of cronyism and corporate influence in the White House, continuing a trend demonstrating how our government- supposedly for the people- is really just for those with the most power.
Of course, with all the news going around today, such as the tax bill, the government almost shutting down, making the biggest shrinkage in national park land in years out in Utah, combined with various senate races and sexual allegations within politics, it's pretty easy to forget about the net neutrality bill, which frankly, is probably exactly what the FCC wants. There have been tons of protests by major websites, but the vote still plans to go forward.
Anyways, I'm not going to pretend like I fully understand the impact losing net neutrality will have on the internet, myself in particular, yet what I can confidently say is that having what we can and can't access be controlled by major organizations and corporations is not exactly what we define as "free speech" or "freedom of expression." Now granted, we don't really know what our government's, our president particularly, opinion is in regards to free speech, yet what we do know is that he will adapt his opinion to whatever benefits him the most. In this case, it is hard to look at this bill and think that the FCC, and by proxy, our government, is keeping our best interests in mind, which is incredibly concerning. As a result, I encourage everybody and anybody to learn more about this issue, myself included, and do something about this potentially calamitous decision before it is too late.
