Tomorrow, net neutrality supporters want to put pressure on Congress to overturn the FCC's repeal
Unfortunately for supporters of net neutrality, the Democrats won't be taking over the House of Representatives until January 3rd. That's because a vote will be taken in the House on December 10th to force a floor vote on overturning the FCC's repeal of net neutrality. This past June, the FCC removed the Obama-era rules from the books after President Donald Trump appointed Ajit Pai as FCC chairman.
Net neutrality prevents ISPs and wireless carriers from treating streams of content differently. Under net neutrality, a streaming content provider like Netflix can't pay a carrier extra money for a "faster lane." It also stops carriers from throttling or blocking content streams that they don't philosophically agree with.
Net neutrality has turned into a political football even though the majority of the country supports it. In May, the Senate voted to overturn the FCC's repeal, but the House may never even get the chance to vote. That's because a discharge petition must be passed first to allow the vote to reach the floor. That would require a majority of 218 members of the House to sign the petition. However, at last count only 177 have signed it (176 are Democrats).
Some supporters hoping for the return of net neutrality on a nationwide basis (some states, like California, have made it state law) are holding a Day of Action tomorrow, November 29th (view image at the top of this article). Organizers have put up a website where U.S. citizens can sign an Open Letter to Congress.
"Net neutrality is not like other issues that are met with partisan divisiveness. It’s the basic underlying principle that has allowed the Internet to thrive since its inception. Without it, monopolistic Internet providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T –– some of the least popular companies in the United States –– will become the dictators of our online experience: they’ll control what we see, where we get our news, which businesses succeed, and which ones fail."-Open Letter to Congress, Deadline for Net Neutrality
While the Democrats could use their newfound majority in the House to get a net neutrality bill passed next year, the odds are that it would be shut down in the Republican controlled Senate.
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