The FCC must protect the open internet

Since its creation, the internet has operated under a simple principle: All traffic, regardless of its content, should be treated equally.

It’s this idea that allowed the internet to change the world, the way we communicate, and the way we do business.

It’s what allowed college students to develop two of the world’s biggest companies, presidential candidates to upend the political process, and universities to open up their courses for anyone, anywhere to study. And now it’s under grave threat.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai plans to eliminate net neutrality protections. Without these protections, big internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T will be free to block or slow down content as they see fit.

These net neutrality rules are incredibly popular with Americans from all walks of life.

According to a recent poll conducted by Civis Analytics, 77 percent of Americans support keeping the strong net neutrality rules we already have and more than 80 percent agree with the principles of net neutrality.

Net neutrality also found overwhelming support across income and education levels, race, and gender.

Support is strong among Democrats and Republicans. Even in this polarized political climate, an open Internet is one of the few things we all agree on.

The current net neutrality rules, enacted in 2015 after millions of Americans wrote to the FCC supporting them, gave the FCC the authority to enforce net neutrality and ensure internet service providers do not block, throttle, or prioritize traffic from any website.

By correctly classifying internet service providers as common carriers, just like phone companies, the 2015 rules made the FCC a much-needed watchdog for consumers, while changing little about how internet providers operate.

These light-touch rules have unprecedented support from the public and we’re already seeing a groundswell of Americans writing the FCC to support an open Internet.

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