Recently, many people have been expressing their concerns about whether or not to keep net neutrality, but what is net neutrality really, and why should any of us be concerned over it?

Net neutrality allows people to have free and equal access to sites on the Internet. Service providers such as Comcast or AT&T cannot slow down or speed up service for different sites for whatever reasons. It gives everyone our freedom on the Internet and makes the Internet what it is today.

However, on December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on whether or not to keep net neutrality in place. FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, was the one who proposed to destroy net neutrality earlier this year. Originally, according to the Save The Internet movement, the FCC was allowing Pai’s plan to “move forward.” Since they had gotten comments on the issue from millions and millions of people, they waited to put Pai’s plan in action.

If net neutrality was removed, the Internet would become more closed off. Its service providers would be able to choose what sites and what content we were allowed to see, unlike how the Internet is now, where everything is open to the public.

The lost of net neutrality would be detrimental to business owners who rely on the internet for various reasons such as reaching out to customers, advertising, etc. Any individual who was trying to start-up or only have a small business wouldn’t be able to thrive as well since the Internet would no longer be as open as it is now.

The Internet is a part of the everyday lives of people. At school, work, and home, it is constantly used time and time again. The Internet is such a huge part of the lives of people, that even the thought of losing it has made millions of people protesting over the issue. People want their freedom of the Internet and to not have it controlled by their service providers. December 14th could be the day that the Internet we know could change forever.