What Is Net Neutrality?

Net neutrality is the principle that all data on the Internet should be treated equally. It means no matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of content you have, your access to the Internet should not be restricted by your ISP. We should all be highly protective of it, especially right now as our current administration is trying to roll back Obama-era rules that protect net neutrality. Net neutrality is one of the things that makes the Internet such a powerful tool it allows us to communicate and share information freely. Without it, big companies would have an advantage over smaller ones because they could pay for faster loading times or higher quality streaming video (think about Netflix vs. Hulu). That would mean many people wouldn't have access to certain content unless they paid more. Network neutrality is a concept that deals with three things: limited discrimination, non-discrimination and limited timing. Unreasonable discrimination means that the Internet Service Provider (ISP) can't treat two or more users differently based on their subscription level. For example, if two or more people share the same subscription level, they can use the Internet at the same level of access. Non-discrimination means that an ISP cannot discriminate against any user based on their content or how they're using it. For example, if you're trying to watch a video, it should not be slowed down because of your choice of entertainment. Limited timing means ISPs cannot manipulate what information gets sent to benefit themselves financially. This includes slowing down data for specific sites so that users will pay for faster service and speeding up data for others so that users will stay with them longer. Need everyone who uses the Internet (and cares about its future) to speak out against moves that could threaten net neutrality!