Dec 4, 2017 3 min read

Even the rising tide of populism may not be enough to save an obscure federal government rule that affects nearly everyone in this country.

Net neutrality is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission. It claims overregulation is stifling the internet’s ability to thrive.

In reality, the rules have unleashed the internet, giving customers the ability to surf the web without restrictions or pay scales. That’s incredibly important for any consumers who use the internet, which would be pretty much everyone.

The net neutrality regulations instituted by the FCC in 2015 ensured internet companies could not block websites or throttle online speeds for certain uses, such as social media pages or streaming services.

In effect, it allowed the internet to remain an open place in which the customer pays for a service and has unlimited access to it.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to change all of that in what he has repeatedly called a “light touch” approach to web services. He is leading the charge for the regulatory agency to roll back key provisions of net neutrality, which would then allow internet providers to charge different rates for services or websites.

That means anyone who enjoys watching Netflix, Hulu or other streaming television services could pay a much higher price for their internet service than before. It also could allow telecommunications to strangle out their streaming competition by making it cost prohibitive.

Even if you don’t stream at home, it also could mean higher rates to use popular social media websites such as Facebook. With an estimated 208 million Facebook users expected in the United States next year, these changes would affect nearly every adult.

In effect, the roll back would allow for tiered service options, much like cable subscribers can purchase different plans that offer different television stations. Anyone who watches TV knows how aggravating it is to be forced into cable plans that offer hundreds of channels no one would ever want or watch. Or how costly it could be to purchase higher-tiered plans that include ESPN.

The changes, which could be voted on at the FCC’s Dec. 14 meeting, would take regulation of the internet back two decades ago when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was meant to open the market to new competitors. But that was also during a time when the internet was still in its commercial infancy and Google – founded in 1998 – was more like the sound a baby would make than the biggest tech company in the world.

This roll back has very little benefit to the consumer. It would be an enormous gift, however, to massive telecommunication companies that continue to consolidate power through mergers that are stifling competition.

That’s not good for internet users and it certainly isn’t a victory for the middle class.