Tulsi Gabbard is One of the Few Members of Congress Defending Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decides the rules on net neutrality. There has been a lot of confusion over the term, but here is a simple way to understand it. Net neutrality means that internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all internet data equally. As such, ISPs cannot block out their competition, nor can they manipulate the speeds of certain websites in exchange for money; all competition and all speeds must be treated equally.

ISPs have a bad history when it comes to fairness. Take Verizon for example. They had blocked Google Wallet in their internet services because it competed with their own version of the Wallet.

If Net Neutrality is to be repealed, this means that ISPs can give higher speeds to companies and sites that are willing or able to pay more, thus stifling the democratic growth of the internet.

One of the few but most outspoken members of congress against this assault on democracy has been Tulsi Gabbard. She has come out speaking against Donald Trump’s appointment of Ajit Pai, a former lawyer for Verizon (a hardened enemy of net neutrality).