Trump threatens your use of the internet; Biden restores it
- Jun 10, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Jun 11, 2024
June 11: On This Day In 2018
Who’s going to control your Internet? Imagine a world in which your internet service provider is the gatekeeper of the content you consume. They could steer you towards the sites they get paid to show you, and prevent you from seeing certain things they happen not to like.
The alternative concept – where all the data on the internet is treated equally – is called “net neutrality,” and it prohibits providers like Verizon or Comcast from manipulating your internet speeds or your access to specific websites. It’s better for the consumer. That’s why the Obama Administration made net neutrality the law of the land.
Trump wanted to change that: If it was Obama’s idea, it must be discarded, no matter how many citizens benefitted from it. So, OTDI 2018, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along party lines to dismantle these protections.
Biden brought back sanity: By mid-2021, President Biden had issued an Executive Order urging the FCC to restore the net neutrality policies of the pre-Trump era. And by 2023, he had appointed enough Democrats to the FCC to make it happen.
Dive Deeper
NPR provides the in-depth understanding of the FCC's decision and the public's response
To delve into the complexities and debates surrounding net neutrality, Forbes offers insight
Engadget outlines the steps taken by the Biden Administration to reinforce net neutrality regulations
Image by Free Press
Summary: Trump threatens net neutrality; Biden restores it