I support net neutrality as I understand it. But the repeal of net neutrality in 2017 and its recent reinstatement has had no discernable effect on my personal internet usage. What should I have noticed? Or what should I notice going forward?
In: Technology
First, as others have mentioned, it can be difficult to identify non-neutral actions be internet service providers because the most nefarious non-neutral policies involve slowing access to certain content to the point where you’re likely to look for an alternative, but not actually blocking or charging for that content.
Secondly, following the repeal, Congress was actively considering new laws and there was significant scrutiny of ISPs that resulted in many providers not changing internet traffic patterns despite the repeal.
However, there were cases of non-neutral activity. So called “zero-rating” plans, where certain data or app usage would be exempt from data limits/plan data caps.
There were also cases of throttling, such as AT&T throttling certain data users which the FTC sued AT&T over:
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/att-data-throttling-refunds
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