What is the NAACP doing? I’ll go ahead and save everyone time. Net Neutrality is the right path. Tiered access, data caps, throttled usage: none of these are the internet of the future. So when the NAACP comes out and sides with the major telecommunication companies and claim that it stands with them on the issue of Net Neutrality, it definitely looks like they’re lining up on the wrong side. Are they starting to take their cues from the Koch brothers?
If you don’t know what Net Neutrality is, it’s the basic principle that all traffic on the web should be treated equally by internet service providers (ISPs). It’s currently not the standard but the FCC is considering changing rules to ban the practice of showing preference to certain traffic and effectively throttling others.
Currently, the practice of showing traffic preference or requiring content sources to pay for guaranteed transfer rates is legal.
The Koch Brothers have come out against Net Neutrality and on the side of the major telecoms. That makes sense since the opposition is just an effort for the telecoms to keep doing what they have always done. It’s in their best, corporate interests to charge higher prices for diminishing service and continue squeezing more and more blood from the stone.
The NAACP though has a legacy of advocating on the behalf of oppressed populations. The effects of the telcom’s opposition to net neutrality would be an internet where not all content is created equal. The information that the downtrodden would have access to could be filtered and tailored to fit the agenda of the corporations. It makes sense for the Kochs; it doesn’t for the NAACP.
There’s no debate really. Strong Net Neutrality is the route to protect American consumers. Opposing Net Neutrality is the way of continued and increasing corporate oppression. The NAACP needs to get itself back on the right side of history and stop siding with the likes of the Koch brothers.
Joshua is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire.
