Without exaggeration, the internet as we know it could disappear forever very soon.
I’ve changed my avatar in preparation for the day of action to save net neutrality.
Net neutrality is really important. Basically, right now, the internet is treated as a utility, like water and gas. Everybody’s rates are the same, and nobody can pay more for faster or better service.
This may be about to change.
The FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai want to reclassify the internet to make it just like phone and cable services, i.e., companies charging exorbitant prices for shoddy services and charging even more if you want faster service.
If net neutrality fails, ISPs can slow down or even block websites completely, which would stifle and kill the innovation, creativity, and free expression the internet has allowed us to have. Without net neutrality, the internet will be just like cable TV: the content you see is only what the provider puts in front of you.
That means if they don’t like your startup website or the website you made for your new company, they can charge you exorbitant fees, which they then pass down to consumers, for allowing your website to even exist.
That means that if they don’t like anything the Resistance does (and they wouldn’t like most of it; Comcast and Verizon are multimillion dollar donors to the GOP), they can block these websites. Your efforts at resisting the Trump administration will be suppressed.
If you are poor, or live in a rural area, you won’t be able to afford the exorbitant rates ISPs would charge for even basic internet access. This is designed specifically to target the poor and POC.
BUT ON JULY 12TH, WE’RE FIGHTING BACK.
Websites, Internet users, and online communities will come together to sound the alarm about the FCC’s attack on net neutrality. Battleforthenet.com (linked above) is your resource guide.
I strongly, STRONGLY urge you to participate.
Artists who use the internet to promote your work, you have a stake in this fight.
Anybody who reads fic on AO3, you have a stake in this fight.
Anybody who’s ever had an online shop or store, you have a stake in this fight.
Anybody who uses the internet, you have a stake in this fight.
Learn more and join the fight at battleforthenet.com/july12
Go to Gofccyourself.com and submit a pro-net neutrality comment to the FCC directly today and every day!
