Trump’s New FCC Chairman Pushes To End Net Neutrality
After the Net Neutrality regulations from 2015 were partially overturned in May 2017, Donald Trump’s new chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pushing to end net neutrality after a final vote this month.
What Is Net Neutrality?
In short, Net Neutrality means that ISPs (who control the data pipeline) treat everyone’s data (emails, digital audio files, and digital video) equally, whether it’s from companies or individuals, or whether its popular streamed TV episodes e.g. Netflix and Amazon being able to compete with established broadcasters. With Net Neutrality, ISPs don’t get to decide whose data is sent more quickly e.g. data from private individuals (more slowly), data from a business because it’s been paid for by a business (more quickly), and which sites get blocked or throttled e.g. the streamed delivery of a TV show from a competitor of the ISP.