Can net neutrality make a comeback?
By Isaiah Mayersen,
Big quote: “The internet age and digital revolution have changed
Americans’ way of life. As our lives and the U.S. economy are more tied
to the internet, it is essential to provide Americans with basic
protections online.” Ro Khanna’s introduction to his ten principles of
online rights, which he hopes to make legislation if the Democrats win
the House back in November.

Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi commissioned Khanna, who is California’s 17th
district’s representative, to draft this ‘Internet Bill of Rights’ six
months ago. Khanna discussed it with Silicon Valley giants such as
Google and Apple (who are based within his district) and with think
tanks and experts. Even internet founder Tim Berners-Lee chipped in,
saying that “if the internet is to live up to its potential as a force
for good in the world, we need safeguards that ensure fairness, openness
and human dignity.”
The ten principles give you the right:
To have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies.
To opt-in consent to the collection of personal data by any party and to the sharing of personal data with a third party.
Where context appropriate and with a fair process, to obtain,
correct or delete personal data controlled by any company and to have
those requests by third parties.
To have personal data secured, and to be notified in a timely manner
when a security breach or unauthorized access of personal data is
discovered.
To move all personal data from one network to the next. (Data portability)
To access and use the internet without internet service providers
blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization or otherwise
unfairly content, applications, services or devices. (Net neutrality)
To internet service without the collection of data that is
unnecessary for providing the requested service absent opt-in consent.
To have access to multiple viable, affordable internet platforms, services and providers with clear and transparent pricing.
Not to be unfairly discriminated against or exploited based on your personal data.
To have an entity that collects your personal data have reasonable
business practices and accountability to protect your privacy.
Many of these principles have recently been in conflict, with #6 and #8 –
net neutrality – currently in a tug of war between the FCC and
California. The European Union has already legislated #3 in what’s known
as “right to be forgotten laws,” while Instagram and Facebook have
recently implemented #5. Essentially, the purpose of the principles is
not to introduce new ideas but to summarize them into one list so that
they can be supported and fought for as a whole.
All ten principles are good for internet users, there’s no debate there.
Pelosi strongly believes that “legislation would get public support”
and promises that Democrats will fight for the bill if they’re
successful in the midterms, but will they be successful enough? Even if
they are, will they manage to legislate it? Considering how hard the FCC
has fought against California creating its own net neutrality, and how
they blatantly ignored overwhelming public support for net neutrality,
any bill supporting these rights would face an uphill battle.
Khanna agrees it will be a long road: “This is a 15-year fight, but I do
not think tech is immediately primed against it and Congress is more
willing to be strong on regulation,” he told the New York Times. “Tech
is amoral — it is great in many ways but not as great in others, and
they need to now spend the next 10 years thinking about how they shape
that tech for public good.”
Pelosi insists that they must try regardless of the challenges they may
face. “Something needs to be done to protect the privacy of the American
people. Think backward a dozen years and look forward a decade. Like
they say, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”
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