On June 11 the free Internet that the United States knew will end

This May 10, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced that on June 11 of this year will end network neutrality, a regulation approved in 2015 under the mandate of former President Barack Obama, based on a concept that has accompanied the network from its origins and guarantees equal access to content and protects the internet as a public service.

"Now, on June 11, these unnecessary and harmful internet regulations will be repealed and the bipartisan, light-touch approach that served in the online world for nearly 20 years will be restored," said FCC President, Republican Ajit Pai, in a statement appointed by President Donald Trump.

According to the EFE agency, in case this norm comes IGNORE INTO effect, the companies supplying the Internet will be able to block or slow down at will the access to any website regardless of its content, including media or video platforms. On the other hand, this initiative opens the door for political and economic powers to have the possibility of exercising censorship on the Internet.

Moreover, given that net neutrality protects emerging companies from Internet giants, who have the purchasing power, these rules are the only ones that prevent corporations from absorbing their entire lives online.

The newspaper EL TIEMPO says that this decision by the FCC has raised criticism among the most liberal sectors; those who have highlighted that the main internet-supplying companies in the United States, such as Comcast and Verizon, could abuse their power and increase the cost of using the network.

On the other hand, experts argue that the country runs the risks of giving up its role as the champion of a free and open Internet. "This will be another instance of the U.S. ceding leadership in a global area," says Nick Frisch, a resident member of the Yale Information Society Project at Yale Law School. "It is going to set a bad example for other countries, coming from the country that invented the internet," he insisted.

Now the Senate will vote

Last Wednesday, the Senate voted to revoke the changes in the aforementioned neutrality laws. The measure, approved by 49 Democratic senators and Republican Susan Collins, will now be sent to the chamber, where it probably will not get anywhere because Trump is unlikely to support it.

"The internet should be kept free and open like our highways, accessible and affordable to every American, regardless of ability to pay," said minority leader  in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.

Latin American Post | Luisa Fernanda Báez

Translated from "¿Por qué le debe importar el fin de la neutralidad de red?"