I've mentioned in many of my previous posts that I am terrified of the propaganda model that U.S. media is becoming, taking away net neutrality does nothing to soothe those fears. Right after President Donald Trump was elected, The Verge came out with a piece about net neutrality that outlined the ways net neutrality was at risk. In it, they mentioned that Ted Cruz had said in 2008 that net neutrality was "Obamacare for the internet," and that it would slow down private sector innovation.
Ironically, net neutrality does quite the opposite. Because so many sites are competing with each other, and most of them are part of the private sector, it forces them to bring out the best possible product every day. Having to be the best when competing with millions of other sites on the internet requires content investment and innovation in the best technologies, marketing strategies as well as ensuring that the people get the best possible product. Is this not what capitalism is about? What republicans want to do with net neutrality is make it so that those who already have the means to be on the "fast track" can be on it and keep making money and sharing information that is complicit to the Republican agenda. Those who do not have the means have to "pull themselves from their bootstraps" until they find a way to pay the fee to be seen in search engine results. The internet was the one thing in the United States that did not structurally discriminate against those who had less; is was the only entity that started everyone out on an even playing field. Why republicans would want to ruin the one thing that actually ascribes to the true meaning of capitalism -- when capitalism is all they talk about -- is because they find the control on information to be more important that the development of online enterprises. Being able to control everything has always been the objective of the Republican party, not enterprise or little government involvement. This is why in 2010 they heavily gerrymandered states all across the country to benefit their own interests and votes. Talk about being heavily involved in the decisions your constituents make. People have to recognize that the Republican party is hiding behind a screen of conservatism that has very authoritarian and dangerous undertones. Donald Trump is the vehicle they were waiting for to bring their dangerous tactics into the forefront.
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AuthorHi! I'm Isabella Grullon. I am a junior journalism major at Ithaca College from the Dominican Republic and Colombia.
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