Well, it happened.
Despite overwhelming opposition, Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai, the former Verizon thug, overturned net neutrality rules.
The proof of how evil this is: the next day, moments before Pai was to speak at the Neo-Nazi CPAC convention, the NRA honored him with the “Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award” for repealing the net neutrality rules.
They weren’t allowed to bring Pai’s “prize” on stage – a handmade rifle (how ironic) – but it was forthcoming.
Pai, a former Verizon lawyer who joked in December about being “Verizon’s puppet” argued that the net neutrality rules were too “heavy-handed.”
But net neutrality proponents – including consumer advocacy groups and tech companies – counter that the rules are necessary to prevent monopolistic broadband providers from engaging in censorship and from harming competitors.
Overturning Net Neutrality rules mean that Big Cable companies can censor content, slow or throttle sites, inhibit newcomers from ever taking hold, and shakedown viewers for more and higher fees.
It means it will be harder for the next innovator, the next Facebook or Reddit or Twitter or Netflix to get a foothold.
For instance, Comcast owns NBC Universal and, before, was not allowed to throttle Netflix streaming speeds to make it less desirable for viewers compared to its own NBC Universal content.
You would think this means that Google can accede to massive pressure to shut down NRATV, but that is doubtful.
The NRA isn’t worried because they know that in the new paradigm, money talks, just as Citizens United turned political campaigns into a Fantasy League sport of billionaires.
Media providers become the conduit to culture, and culture is values.
News Corp, Disney, Comcast, Universal – which dominate media – can decide which programs convey the social message they want and price accordingly, both to the content provider and the consumer: NRATV promoting gun violence under guise of “Second Amendment freedom?
Free. Documentary on Elizabeth Warren and a fair deal for all?
Expensive for both the producer and for consumers to subscribe to see it. Or think of charging a premium to producers of “Will & Grace,” a show which helped America see LGBT community as real people, or “Murphy Brown,” which promoted women’s rights, but giving evangelist Franklin Graham unlimited distribution.
A coalition of 23 state attorneys general is challenging the repeal of net neutrality rules in court, as are Mozilla, Vimeo and consumer advocacy groups. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) said last week after Pai issued the new rules that he is pressing forward with a resolution to scrap the FCC’s recent move. So far, that effort has garnered the support of 50 senators. Just one more vote in the Senate could overturn the repeal.
Under the provision of the Congressional Review Act, a simple majority of Congress in both the House and the Senate can overturn the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality if they act within 60 legislative days (which takes 4-6 months)—and the pro-Big Cable leadership can’t stop them.
The Trump Administration, which from public education to health care to Social Security, energy, environmental, trade and foreign policy has demonstrated that money talks, has nothing but contempt for free and fair flow of media.
The federal budget proposes to slash funding altogether for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS and NPR), yet has done little to force Facebook and Twitter to adhere to the same disclosure rules as every television and radio station, newspaper and magazine must adhere to, to prevent Russian agents from undertaking propaganda and disinformation campaigns intended to suppress voting and sow conflict and discontent.
It goes to the overall theme of Trumpism: weaponizing wealth – dollars are not just “free speech” (as Scalia and the right-wing Supreme Court said in Citizens United) but a measure and means of political power – and pulling up the ladder to upward mobility for everyone else – public education, public access TV and radio.
Instead of “Got Milk?” Trump administration slogan is “Got Cash?”
A survey conducted by the University of Maryland late last year revealed that 83% of Americans – including 75% of Republicans — disapproved of the planned repeal.
Congress needs to act and legislate the reality that the online world, the Internet, the world-wide-web is an essential utility, a critical tool for nationhood and democracy, and access and messaging should not be determined by money.
This week, there was an all-out social media campaign for #OneMoreVote to save net neutrality.
