Net neutrality: Why millions of people are terrified about Trump’s new internet policy

'The Internet will never be the same'

Proponents of net neutrality protest against Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai outside the American Enterprise Institute before his arrival May 5, 2017 in Washington, DC (Getty)

Donald Trump might have quietly made one of his most controversial decisions yet.

Under his government, the laws and regulations preserving the principle of net neutrality are going to be ripped up. As such, one of the most fundamental principles of the internet – that all traffic should be treated the same – will be destroyed.

That's the decision of Arjit Pai, the man the President appointed to run the FCC. But it is firmly supported by Mr Trump, who has opposed the principle for years.

Opponents argue that net neutrality keeps internet companies from being competitive, and pushes up prices. But that is not the story told by the millions of people who have campaigned to protect it – a campaign that also includes hundreds of the biggest companies in the world.

Internet pioneers like Aaron Swartz have fought to protect the principle. And the biggest tech companies in the world – Facebook, Google, Reddit and Netflix – have all been fierce defenders of it.

They claim that interfering with the principle could damage the very way the internet works, and ruin it for everyone. That's an argument supported by the many companies that are required to make it work.

And it's one neatly laid out by those behind Battle For The Net, a day of action that saw many of those websites go dark in July, to demonstrate just what will happen if net neutrality is lost. On a page for the site, it set out the argument for why it was so concerned about encroachments onto the principle, and why it must be defended.

"Cable companies are famous for high prices and poor service," the page read. "Several rank as the most hated companies in America.

"Now, they’re lobbying the FCC and Congress to end net neutrality. Why? It’s simple: if they win the power to slow sites down, they can bully any site into paying millions to escape the 'slow lane.'

"This would amount to a tax on every sector of the American economy. Every site would cost more, since they’d all have to pay big cable. Worse, it would extinguish the startups and independent voices who can’t afford to pay.

"If we lose net neutrality, the Internet will never be the same."

That was echoed by other internet campaign groups.

"I know it sounds ridiculous to imagine, but without Net Neutrality, the cable companies have the power to slow down traffic that doesn’t pay extra fees for the privilege of not being interfered with," reads the website of Aaron Swartz day, which commemorates the internet pioneer's commitment to causes including net neutrality.

"It’s really about FREE SPEECH people. If we lose Net Neutrality, it means people with more money will be able to silence online voices those that don’t."