When the pandemic first hit and school went fully online, my house descended into chaos, but not for the reasons you might think. Living in rural Nebraska with a family of five, high-speed (25-100 mbps) internet always seemed like such a distant luxury. Then everything went online, and my family and our 5 mbps were pushed to the breaking point trying to keep up with our busy lives on the stuttering, staticky internet. While I rushed to turn off everything in my house with an internet connection so I could actually unmute myself in class, I couldn’t stifle the feelings of isolation and disconnect from the people around me.  

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that internet access is a necessity just as vital as utilities like water and electricity. With so many aspects of life now led online, slow or inaccessible service can create a divide between us and the ever-changing world around us. Behind this digital divide lies a critical principle known as net neutrality, which plays a fundamental role in shaping the internet as we know it. 

Net neutrality is the principle that all data on the internet should be treated equally, without discrimination or preference based on its source, destination, or content. It ensures that internet service providers (ISPs), like AT&T and Verizon, remain impartial conduits, allowing users to access and share information freely. Without net neutrality laws, your internet provider is able to slow down or block your connection to certain websites and services to encourage you to use their preferred sites.  

All this changed in 2017, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under the leadership of Chairman Ajit Pai, voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order. Previously, ISPs were prohibited from blocking, throttling, and allowing paid sponsorships to direct internet traffic. This move essentially rolled back the net neutrality regulations and reclassified ISPs as information service providers, which were subject to fewer regulations.  

In the years following the rollback, ABC News reports that there were numerous efforts to restore net neutrality at the federal level. Legislation was introduced in Congress, and various court cases challenged the 2017 decision, but our internet remained largely controlled by broadband providers with marketed interests until 2021. 

Under the Biden administration, the FCC has begun the process of restoring net neutrality rules. In August 2021, the FCC voted to adopt new net neutrality rules, aiming to restore some of the consumer protections that were in place prior to the 2017 repeal. At the National Press Club in Washington D.C., FCC chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, made her case for the fair and free internet: 

“Broadband is no longer nice-to-have; it’s need-to-have for everyone, everywhere. It is not a luxury. It is a necessity,” Rosenworcel said.  

“It is essential infrastructure for modern life. No one without it has a fair shot at 21st century success. We need broadband to reach 100 percent of us—and we need it fast, open, and fair.” 

I couldn’t agree more. The 2017 rollback was a crippling blow to one of the last remaining free spaces controlled entirely by users, one that the FCC has come to regret. During the pandemic, people were camping out in coffee shops and parking lots, desperate for the Wi-Fi connection that acts as our primary conduit for communication. People like me and my family who don’t have reliable access to the internet are immediately at a disadvantage when it comes to communication and productivity. Hopefully this new session of the FCC will treat our open internet as the utility it is, instead of the luxury the last administration saw it as.