On December 14th, the vote to repeal Net Neutrality will take place. Unless we do something to stop it or to change this or change the minds of those voting, we will lose Net Neutrality. We’re dealing with corporations attempting to monopolize the Internet.
We have 12 days before we lose the Internet and enter an era of loss.
We have 12 days before the inevitable repeal is put in place, and as time continues to go on, we’re losing opportunities to stop it. The FCC no longer recognizes emails and other online petitions. There have been too many bots, and, as such, have decided to essentially ignore anything that has to do with online support for net neutrality. If you want to make a change, you’re going to have to make direct contact—write a letter or call your representatives.
We have 12 days before the Digital Age may fall, and if it doesn’t completely collapse, then it will surely be wounded. We’re risking an end to the entire age of information that the Internet has sparked, between censorship and unfairly high payment and god knows what else could be implemented once they have control.
We have 12 days before the free and open Internet perishes. We have 12 days to do anything in our power to prevent this, but time is running it and so are ways to deal with it. We cannot sit idly by and wait or let others do the work for us; we cannot hope for the best without taking action of our own; we cannot rely on everyone else to put these changes into place when everyone else is in that same mindset.
We have 12 days before they vote to put their plans into place. ISPs can and will charge you extra for certain sites, slow streaming services, and block websites altogether.
As someone who dreams to have work in the creation of content, this is the most horrifying outcome—and I’m far from being the only one who thinks that. The Internet is where artists of all kind flock and may be sheltered, where they can show their work. This is how they can put their name into the world, this is how they can become known, this is how they can accomplish their goals, but all of that will be ripped away. All of this hangs in the balance, and we’re still far from tipping the scales in our favor.
Of course, anyone reading this may think I’m just being overdramatic, but we’re talking about a practically immeasurable scale of negative change. You may say we just need to pay the price for the new Internet and move on with our lives, but how? Some people are lucky enough to have access as it is, but that will change. Censorship and blocking will run rampant, and it won’t be stopped, not when the people who issued this censorship are the ones in charge. Creative minds, even those with the financial stability to be able to keep up with the permanently changed online world, will still face constant challenges and limits in the content they will be putting into the world. But these effects will only dig deeper and deeper. Members of the LGBT+ community will no longer find the platforms of massive support they once found on the free Internet; relationships, friendships, connections of all kinds built in the online world will be severed and lost; the spread for social causes and fights against injustice will be diminished; an entire community will die. Education will be effected, business will be effected, day-to-day lives will be effected, the way we receive information will be effected, the way we connect to each other in the constantly advancing world will be effected, everyone will be effected.
We have 12 days to act before we lose it all, and I’ll be damned if I stand aside and watch it happen. Spread the word, call your representatives, write as many letters as you can muster, do everything in your power to fight back. We cannot be suppressed, we cannot let all that we’ve made go to waste. We cannot let minds full of beauty and groups of love wither away. We cannot let free knowledge become hidden and costly. We cannot let ourselves be limited by the corrupt, especially on such a large scale. We cannot let them have this advantage against us. We cannot wait, because the time for waiting is over. We take action now or we lose, we all lose. Fight for Net Neutrality.
We have 12 days before we’re too late. Don’t let it be too late.