Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) are joining in an online protest today against US plans to limit net neutrality.
More than 80,000 websites are taking part in the ‘Battle for the Net’ campaign to stop the US Federal Communications Commission from repealing laws that ban internet service providers (ISPS) from restricting, blocking or altering how certain websites are delivered to users.
The rules for net neutrality, called the Open Internet Order, were put in place by the Obama administration in 2015.
Net neutrality, a term coined in 2013, describes the notion that ISPs should treat all of the data provided to customers equally.
The FCC, headed by Ajit Pai who was appointed by President Donald Trump, voted to reverse Obama’s rules in May. It argued that the increased regulatory burden has been reducing investment in broadband infrastructure.
But supporters of net neutrality say that repealing the existing rules mean ISPs, such as Comcast, Charter and AT&T, will no longer have to treat all internet content equally.
The 'Battle for the Net' website says: "If they win the power to slow sites down, they can bully any site into paying millions to escape the slow lane.”
Websites are staging a “day of action” with visible banners and messages on their homepages speaking out against the FCC’s plans. Some of the world's biggest internet companies are taking party, including Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Facebook, Amazon, Google, Reddit, Netflix, Airbnb, and Spotify.
We support #NetNeutrality protections. An open internet allows everyone to express themselves, innovate and compete. https://t.co/2RtuScwyUL
— Google (@Google) 12 July 2017
While many of the protest banners and messages are only visible within the US, some are being published worldwide, including on Twitter and Reddit.
"The FCC should abandon its misguided effort to obviate all the work that has been done on behalf of all Internet users," Lauren Culbertson, public policy manager at Twitter, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.
Protest against #NetNeutrality goes live. This is the message Reddit shown on r/technology pic.twitter.com/E5kwbK1Zli
— Catalin Cimpanu (@campuscodi) 12 July 2017
Actor Stephen Fry has also joined in on the debate on Twitter:
What
if
the
Internet
was
so
slow
it
loaded
one
word
at
a
time?
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) 12 July 2017