Unfortunately, in America, you can introduce a bill as many times as you want (from my understanding of American politics and law). So it's really just coming down to who breaks first - us, or them.
There are 5 people whose votes will determine whether or not Net Neutrality exists after December 14th. Two of those people are fighting to protect it. There are thousands of people rallying together right now, calling their congressmen and writing letters in the hopes that they can change at least one of those three votes who are for ending Net Neutrality.
Also yes, I do believe there are a lot of misconceptions floating through this thread, so allow me to explain in an ELI5 manner.
Right now, the Internet as we know it is free. Yes, we pay an Internet bill, but we don't have to pay for most websites outside of subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, etc. and most importantly, we don't have to pay to simply access those websites (n the simple terms of typing in a web address and getting there). It's not the cost of the Internet that's free, it's our access to information and ability to bridge the gap all along the globe.
What corporations are trying to do is put a dollar sign on all of these websites. Imagine if the Internet was like cable TV - you pay for certain "packages" that come with specific channels (so some packages come with HD channels, some come with kids networks, etc.). Apply it to the Internet - you've got a bunch of different websites categorized into different packages, such as a social media package (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.), the video package (Youtube, Vimeo, Netflix), the "education" package (Wikipedia), a music package (Spotify, Soundcloud) Even Tapas and Webtoons could face problems with this. Every single package charged independently, so you're looking at an extra $20-$50 on TOP of your Internet bill. And that DOESN'T cover subscriptions either - you'll still be paying Netflix, Spotify, etc. for their services every month (possibly more).
To make matters WORSE, let's imagine the company that owns Bing doesn't want you using Google, because they're competitors. Well, they can slam down a wad of cash that says "hey, we don't want people using Google! Slow down all upload and download speeds from Google so people can't use it!" Yeah. They'll be able to do that if Net Neutrality is destroyed.
Honestly, you don't have to worry about the government seeing everything you do. Corporations are already doing that lol how do you think things like AdSense works? Companies like Google are constantly monitoring what we search and what websites we visit. That's why if you start searching up the release date of the next Star Wars film, you'll start seeing Star Wars merchandise advertised in your Facebook feed. So if you're worried about your privacy, you straight up just shouldn't use the internet lol
No, this is more than privacy that's at stake. Independent companies that use the Internet for their marketing and sales will be undercut and will struggle against the bigger corporations and their monopolies. Indie productions and works will struggle. Companies and individuals outside of the US will undoubtedly see a price raise in US based services like Netflix (which will probably hit roadblocks when it comes to affording all their original programming), and possibly more walls on content in places like Youtube. Only the rich will be able to afford the most high quality of memes.
All of this is just to put more money in the pockets of greedy corporate lobbyists and business owners.
What I'd personally suggest is to start researching VPN's like Tor and other independent browsers built for private networks, if you're worried about your privacy. To be perfectly honest, this new bill that destroys NN isn't so much a matter of "if" anymore, it's a matter of "when". Anyone who's American should be calling their congressmen and sending in letters, demanding that this bill not be passed. You do not need to be of age to vote, so you have no excuse. And for those that are 18+, trust me, politicians will sway if they know they're not getting your vote, especially when those threats come in at the thousands. For any non-Americans in here, spread as much awareness as you can, because there are still a shitload of Americans who don't even know this is happening and they have a right to know.
If it has to be called a "war on freedom" for Americans to take it seriously, so be it. Call it that. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Post about it on social media. Because it most certainly is a war on freedom.
Meanwhile, I'll be spreading as much awareness as I can. I've made a lot of friends who hail from the States and even if I didn't, what the FCC is trying to do is absolutely disgusting and I don't want to see us lose this fight just like we did last year with Trump's election. At the end of the day, America is still subject to the power of the people. Make the FCC regret ever trying to destroy net neutrality.
to be honest if this gets out of hand I would actually be a bit happy cuz the internet is sorta cancerous in of itself and the way it's helped polarize a lot of people on certain topics it would be nice if people collectively decided to stop using the internet so we can get easier lives n all
I know there will be major disadvantages and its really dumb to do so but imagining a world without internet just sounds sorta cool in my head
seems relaxing n less stressful not hearing about everything happening around the world
They said the same thing about newspapers when those were invented, y'know. The Internet is literally what you make of it - if you just browse places like reddit, 4chan, the worst parts of Tumblr, etc. then yeah, all you're going to see is "cancer". Why should your ironic distaste with Internet culture (INTERNET. CULTURE. NOT THE SAME THING AS THE INTERNET.) make it any more reasonable for millions of people to lose their rights to their online freedom? The Internet has done nothing to "polarize" people, it's just done more to make us AWARE that these certain people or cultures existed. Nobody knew about furries before the Internet simply because there was no way of knowing, but now we know, and it's grown more in the past several years simply because people know and are more willing to talk about it. Don't confuse awareness for growing toxicity. Despite all the shit you see online, we're currently living in one of the safest periods of human history.
You know what a simpler solution is to avoiding Internet culture? Staying off the Internet. Nobody's making you browse shitty "cancerous" places, dude. Nobody's making you look at that stuff. No offense, and this is aimed at everybody who might think this, but 300 million people do not and should not care about you feeling a little stressed out from media over-saturation. Turn off your computer, and go read a book. Take care of yourself like an adult human being, instead of expecting others to have to sacrifice actual freedom for your bunion. Within the context of the topic of freedom, that's the sort of shit that caused generations of segregation which America is still recovering from.
