On the surface, the concept sounds so ‘fair’ and innocent: Everyone should have equal access to quality Internet, websites and other services, and at the same speeds, essentially. But like the “Affordable Care Act” isn’t really affordable, Net Neutrality isn’t about the government remaining ‘neutral’ with its regulatory regime.
According to Free Our Internet, during the final two years of the Obama administration, Google used its massive influence with the 44th president (yes, that Google — the one that practically had its own office in Obama’s White House) to get sweeping federal regulations over our Internet networks. The ‘net neutrality’ concept “was subsequently sold to the public through a massive disinformation campaign, asserting that the rules as devised by Obama’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were necessary to ensure a ‘free and open Internet.’”
With this in mind, Free Our Internet points to five things Americans need to know about this concept before deciding on a whim that it’s a good idea based solely on the ‘fair-sounding’ name:
— Any phony ‘neutrality’ rules would not apply to tech-media giants Facebook and Google. Rather, the rules would only apply to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon. They have never applied to the largest Internet and social media companies including Amazon and Twitter.
“Net neutrality is the principle that all data on the internet should be treated the same. However, the fake net neutrality purposefully excluded Silicon Valley internet companies, rendering them free to block and discriminate against content,” Free Our Internet noted.
— Phony Net Neutrality paves the way for online censorship and less transparency. As if we didn’t have enough online censorship of certain political, social, and cultural viewpoints already, NN rules again only apply to ISPs, not the social- and tech-media behemoths that now have control of nearly all information online and are currently blocking access to certain sites and blogs or taking down channels without any good cause. (Related: CENSORED: YouTube terminates indy news site Activist Post for fake reason and without warning.)
NN supporters often present a dozen “examples” of how ISPs were blocking or throttling content since 2005, but in each case, the evidence is weak at best or the problem was immediately addressed and fixed by the ISP.
— Net Neutrality rules were the direct result of Google’s outsized relationship with the former president. The closest corporate ally of the Obama administration was, hands-down, Google. Its officers and executives got more access to the Obama White House than any other American corporation. Indeed, Free Our Internet points out, “then-Google Chairman Eric Schmidt helped to elect the former president, ironically by scraping the same type of personal data Cambridge Analytica accessed.”
— Net Neutrality ignores the near-monopoly of Google and Facebook. Google Chrome, the company’s web browser, has about a 65-percent market share in the U.S., compared with about nine percent for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Meanwhile, Google’s search engine accounts for more than 88 percent of all searches. And Facebook dominates social media with 80 percent of the market. Google and Facebook combine for around 73 percent of all online ad spending.
— Congressional efforts to protect Net Neutrality are not helpful. “Democrats led by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) are seeking to reinstate the Silicon Valley/Obama fake net neutrality rules by the use of an obscure legislative tool – the CRA. Any successful use of the CRA would continue to exempt Facebook and Google from any rules that; prohibit blocking and censoring content; require enhanced transparency; or discriminate against lawful online users, services and applications,” says Free Our Internet.
Stay fully informed at Censored.news and, soon, Brighteon.com.
J.D. Heyes is editor of The National Sentinel and a senior writer for Natural News and News Target.
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