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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UPR chapter.

It has been a while since our previous article concerning net neutrality. A few weeks after that article, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to repeal net neutrality, thus ending with Title II’s protection. The decision was set to be made on December 14. This vote was 3-2. Once the results of voters Ajit Pai, Mike O’Reilly, and Brendan Carr were made public and different news sources began to report it, the Internet went up in an uproar.

However, here at Her Campus, we would like to keep it positive.

Image via Twitter

 

Ajit Pai’s main goal with these changes is to create competition between service providers because there is not enough in his opinion. Because of this, the FCC has managed to rid the Internet of the rules net neutrality had placed since 2015; however, this choice is not official yet.  As reported by The Anon Journal, various states will join New York in suing the FCC such as California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and more.

Popular websites like Netflix have expressed their disappointment in the decision and have promised to protect the ability to provide “innovation, creativity & civic engagement.” Free Press Action Fund, that has been vocal from the beginning, has announced that they will be suing the FCC. As they have stated: “We intend to sue the FCC on the basis of its broken process, deeply flawed legal reasoning, willful rejection of evidence that contradicts its preordained conclusions, and absolute disregard for public input. We have a very strong case in court.”

Image via Twitter

 

You have the right to urge Congress to overturn the FCC’s vote. This is not permanent! The FCC has made their repeal, but there is still time for Congress to annul the decision and leave net neutrality the way it should be. The fact that the FCC has made this vote without a public hearing and taking into consideration the voices of the people does not make the idea of Congress stepping in far-fetched.

Image via The Anon Journal

 

Net neutrality can still be saved and restored in order to have free Internet viewing for people of all social classes. Losing does not mean the battle is over. Let this be the inspiration needed to raise your voice and fight this decision.

 

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Josie is a senior in the UPR-RĂ­o Piedras campus, majoring in English Literature. When she's not on campus, you can find her browsing a bookstore (as if her TBR pile isn't big enough already!). Books and writing are what drives this girl--apart from fighting to destigmatize mental illnesses and raising awareness about the importance of consent. Josie enjoys traveling, bingeing on spicy food and a lot of sweets, blasting Bieber, and adding shows or movies to her Netflix queue that she'll never get to. Josie is a junior editor for the Rio Piedras chapter in Puerto Rico. If you want to see what else Josie is up to, you can catch her on her bookstagram.
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