The internet has opened our eyes to possibilities that we never thought were possible. It brought the world together and has created various means of practicality and efficiency. It has established alternative means of earning an income and has increased the abilities of small businesses to flourish. It has created a more accessible information and communities that would never have been possible before.
Yet, the emergence of the internet doesn't come without its "kinks." In 2023, cyber piracy was taken to new levels. A record 141 billion clicks went to cyber piracy websites, a 12% increase since 2019. On top of that, misinformation spreads throughout the internet like clockwork. You would think that the internet were a more regulated industry, but the government has made it for internet service providers to block any portion of the internet.
These laws are referred to as "Net Neutrality" laws, and they are extremely controversial in the political arena. Many liberals believe that open internet access should be a right, while many conservatives do not believe that restricting the internet market is fair to internet service providers. We'll go through these in detail, but first let's consider what exactly net neutrality laws are.
What is "Net Neutrality"
Net Neutrality is the premise that the internet should be marketed as a whole and not in parts. Thus, internet companies cannot sell different sectors of the internet in separate packages. They must sell access to the entire internet for one rate. That prohibits internet companies from becoming like what cable companies used to be like. Many people didn't get the advantages of watching sports or advanced news simply because they didn't have that "package" of channels for their television service.
The internet, under net neutrality laws, would be run like a newspaper. For one rate, you get access to the whole thing. You find out what's going on, the latest styles, and you even get access to forms of entertainment (in the past, this was comic strips and puzzles that would come with the paper). However, it is not lost on myself of even you who are reading this that the internet is useful for a much wider variety of things than newspapers ever have been.
Why is "Net Neutrality" Controversial
Many have take the stance that internet coverage should not be left in the hands of internet providers because it will shut out opportunities for Americans to grow. There are thousands of Americans with successful social media platforms. Those platforms rely on an open market in order to maintain monetization through Google Adsense. Net Neutrality allows content creators to broadcast their content, sell merchandise, accept donations, and much more. Without Net Neutrality, the business of social media would crumble.
When Congress suggested removing Net Neutrality in 2017, many YouTubers had a major problem with it. Here's what Markiplier had to say about it:
On the other hand, many argue that privatization of internet coverage creates a marketability standard that leaves the accessibility of the internet in the hands of the American people and not the government. The internet, like many wide-use things today, is a business. Internet companies are in the business to make money. They don't make money if they stifle their demand, so they have to keep the internet as accessible as possible. There's also the competition complication where over-charging creates demand for competitors in the market with more reasonable prices.
Either way, the whole controversy is about what the government should control. The United States has always been about the separation of powers and the checks and balances between the government itself and between the public and private sectors. A marriage crafted in 1789, the Constitution lays out some duties for certain branches of government and leaves others to the states. With federal expansion and massive innovation over the years, federal oversight of industries like the internet has become a national security issue. Yet, as many in the world rely on the internet for basic needs like food and communication, federal regulation of the internet seems to be more and more infringing on basic rights of Americans than protective of American civilians.
The controversy comes down to this: How do we best protect American freedoms and national security at the same time?
Why Should We Protect "Net Neutrality"
The United States has an obligation to protect American opportunities as well as American security. With that said, absolute access to the internet needs to be protected in order to ensure economic security as well as national security. There should be as few barriers between Americans and the World Wide Web as possible. YouTubers, streamers, bloggers, TikTok stars, and Instagram stars, media companies, and small businesses all depend on the internet for a substantial portion of their income. They require an accessible internet in order to maintain their views and marketability.
On top of that, how long until internet access becomes a political weapon in the United States? Let's just say a group like Comcast (owner of NBCUniversal) decided to create a separate package for sites like Fox News, The Daily Wire, BlazeTV, or other conservative media websites. They could choose to jack up the price of that media package in order to stifle demand for conservative media sites across the country. Or consider the other side of that argument. Members of The View talk show already believe that Donald Trump will remove their program from the air if he is elected president of the United States:
Is there a possibility that Trump will utilize Net Neutrality to go after the "fake news" media? Anything is possible unless you protect the freedom of Americans to market themselves online. That can't happen unless you protect Net Neutrality and promote the same freedoms laid out in the First Amendment online. The world is changing fast, but protections are needed to make sure we don't lose sight of who we are. We are the United States of America in person and online.
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