Hi, Fresno County —
Just a few hours ago the FCC voted along party lines to repeal net neutrality — an outrageous decision that benefits multi-billion dollar cable companies at the expense of everyday consumers.
Like you, I am frustrated and worried about what this means for our economy and our free speech rights. But net neutrality is not dead yet.
Millions of Americans are rightly concerned today’s vote will impact their experience online. Here’s why:
The basic principle of net neutrality is that access to all websites and web services should be treated equally — that anyone can start their own website and make it accessible to anyone with internet access.
What today’s vote by the FCC does is empower broadband service providers — the gatekeepers of the internet — to potentially distort the online marketplace and set up a pay-for-play system.
For example, say you’re a big fan of Stranger Things, and the only broadband provider in your town has its own streaming service that rivals Netflix. What would happen if your broadband company decides to slow Netflix way down — leaving it to buffer for eternity? Or, worse yet, what if they decide to block it entirely?
That’s just one example. Giving this kind of broad power to cable companies allows them to stifle innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity — it could also have grave effects on the future of political activism online, which has been critically important to resisting Trump’s agenda.
Don’t despair with today’s vote. There is still time to protect all the progress we’ve made and save the free and open internet.
Thanks for all you do.
Kamala Harris
U.S. Senator, California