What Is Net Neutrality? Definition, Regulations, Pros, and Cons
Net neutrality stops ISPs from discriminating between different traffic, such as charging more or blocking access.
- Net neutrality is defined as prohibiting internet service providers (ISPs) and online businesses from meting out discriminatory treatment to certain types of traffic, such as charging more for it, not giving access to exclusive fast lanes, or blocking access altogether.
- Net neutrality is a controversial topic and has several pros and cons. That is why leading countries like the UK, US, India, and others have rolled out (or are drafting) net neutrality laws.
- This article explains the concept of net neutrality and its implications. It also lists its pros and cons and the key regulations on this practice.
Table of Contents
What Is Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality is the practice of prohibiting internet service providers (ISPs) and online businesses from meting out discriminatory treatment to certain types of traffic, such as charging more for it, not giving access to exclusive fast lanes, or blocking access altogether.
When ISPs own content brands, net neutrality ensures they do not prioritize their own traffic over other providers.
Selected Content/Media Brands Owned by ISPs in the US
Source: Statista
The internet is now a vital asset for consumers worldwide and an essential driver for creativity and prosperity. It is unlikely that the need for internet access with increased bandwidth will decrease in the future. Despite this, some network administrators have to use congestion-redressal and traffic-maneuvering techniques to maintain the seamless functioning of their networks.
Consequently, some observers worry that network providers routinely use traffic-management strategies to give preferential treatment to specific data streams. Others feel that a few strategies superficially meant for revenue generation obstruct competitor content or grant some content an undue advantage over others.
In other words, the internet may not be the truly open, free, and neutral space it seems like. To counter such practices, the concept of net neutrality came into being.
Defining net neutrality
Net neutrality suggests that all internet users should have access to any web content or app. ISPs should not be in the position to put specific data in ‘fast lanes’ while censoring or systematically discriminating against other content.
Net neutrality proponents have long maintained that technological progress and creativity require a level playing field on the internet. If broadband providers choose favorites online, new companies and technologies may never have the chance to grow and prosper. However, this also has a few drawbacks, which have been discussed later in the article.
Net neutrality does not mean that nothing can be blocked on the internet. It is possible to restrict websites, but only in the event of legal action. If a website or its content is libelous, unlawful, or infringes on copyright, it can be shut down. This does not violate net neutrality because the ISP has no authority over this.
How does net neutrality work?
The internet is neutral by default, although internet service providers — technically any network owner — can introduce traffic prioritization. In an enterprise, for instance, it is perfectly acceptable to prioritize certain types of traffic (e.g., mission-critical financial transactions) over others (e.g., chat and other asynchronous communication) using a network management tool. However, the issue arises when this practice is introduced in the open, public internet, and there is the regulating of user behavior similar to how employee behavior is regulated in an enterprise, which is not ethical.
For example, consider Mark Zuckerberg, who did not have to request ISPs to add the social networking site to their networks when he launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room. He was also not required to pay these firms any extra charges to guarantee that Facebook would function as well as the web pages of established businesses. As soon as he built the Facebook website, it was visible and accessible from any PC connected to the net worldwide. This, in its simplest form, is the meaning of net neutrality.
Additionally, to make net neutrality work more effectively, state and federal governments roll out regulations, carry out audits, and request reports. This ensures net neutrality compliance and discourages online practices that could be deemed unethical.
See More: What Is Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)? Definition, Key Features, Best Practices with Examples
Net Neutrality and Regulations
Net neutrality regulations vary significantly from one country to another. The net neutrality regulations rolled out or drafted in some of the world’s leading countries, arranged alphabetically, have been summarized below.
1. China: Does not have regulations imposing net neutrality
Net neutrality is not considered in the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) internet policy. In fact, authorities use internet service providers to monitor and control the content available online to its citizens. By using hardware and software firewall systems, collectively called the ‘Great Firewall,’ authorities generally block both international and local websites that the state wants to control or prohibit. This practice is not in sync with the philosophy of net neutrality.
2. European Union: Article 3 of E.U. Regulation 2015/2120
In November 2007, the European Commission deliberated on 2002’s EU regulatory framework for digital and electronic communications. At the time, it analyzed the potential need for legislation enforcing network neutrality to mitigate the potential damages resulting from non-neutral broadband access.
The EU carried out the ‘Telecoms Package’ on 19 December 2009, and its member nations had to implement it by May 2011. Before signing a contract, consumers would be informed about the service’s details, such as traffic control measures and constraints on net neutrality.
Currently, Article 3 of EU Regulation 2015/2120 establishes the fundamental framework that guarantees the neutrality of the internet across the entire European Union. Some EU member states, including the Netherlands and Slovenia, have even more stringent net neutrality regulations.
3. India: Prohibits differential pricing and explicitly upholds net neutrality
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) prohibited differential pricing of data services in February 2016, which is among the strongest net neutrality regulations in the world.
In 2018, the Indian government firmly authorized net neutrality-supporting regulations. It ensures an open and free internet for approximately 500 million users. In India, however, breaches of net neutrality are common. Examples include Facebook’s Internet.org, Airtel’s free Google access, and Reliance’s free Twitter access.
4. Israel: Requires net neutrality but has regulatory provisions for exceptions
In 2011, the Israeli legislature mandated net neutrality for mobile connectivity. A modification to the law, enacted in February 2014, extended these requirements to wireline providers. However, fair and appropriate network management is exempted from the law.
5. Russia: Mandates net neutrality for all ISPs except government agencies
In September 2007, the Russian government announced telecom regulatory guidelines. If a subscriber’s activity posed a hazard to the network’s normal operations, ISPs could legally limit the subscriber’s network activity. This was mainly aimed at P2P connections such as torrent websites but was still in violation of net neutrality.
At the start of 2016, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service authorized a regulation barring ISPs from censoring websites, thereby upholding net neutrality. However, a single exception exists. Websites blocked by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media.
6. United Kingdom: Talk of repealing its net neutrality laws
In the past, net neutrality regulations were applicable in the United Kingdom due to the 2015 ratification of net neutrality statutes by the European Union. However, in 2021, the communications regulator Ofcom proposed re-examining net neutrality. This was in response to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2020, along with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of this, the Open Internet Access Regulations might be repealed in the United Kingdom by the end of December 2023. This would terminate net neutrality in the United Kingdom and enable broadband providers to prioritize or downgrade traffic at their sole discretion.
7. United States: Divided on the issue of net neutrality
Net neutrality in the United States is generally divided along party lines, with Democrats favoring its liberal principles while Republicans oppose it as a component of their free market philosophy.
In 2005, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States adopted policies favoring net neutrality. However, telecom carriers filed a lawsuit against the FCC over these regulations. In 2014, the courts ruled in the Verizon Communications Inc. v. FCC case, stating that the FCC could not oversee service providers without categorizing them as common carriers. At the time, the internet could either be classified as a ‘common carrier service’ (under the FCC’s jurisdiction) or an ‘information service’ (outside the FCC’s jurisdiction).
In 2015, the FCC issued a regulation classifying internet service providers as standard carriers, permitting them to set up net neutrality principles. In 2017, following the transition of power from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, the FCC attempted to reverse the 2015 order. In December 2017, despite widespread public opposition to the shift, the FCC announced a reversal of the decision.
Following that, 23 US states and several tech firms filed a lawsuit against the FCC in the Mozilla vs. FCC (2018) case to reinstate net neutrality regulations or, at the very least, allow state governments to do so. The courts decided in October 2019 that even though the FCC has the power to oppose net neutrality, it cannot stop local or state governments from enacting different regulations.
Soon after the repeal by the FCC, California enacted its own interpretation of net neutrality. However, efforts to enact country-wide net neutrality regulations have been stymied due to partisan politics. For instance, the Broadband Justice Act (presently a bill) authorizes the FCC to prohibit discriminatory practices such as blocking, censoring, and paid prioritization, though this is yet to be enacted as of 2023.
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Net Neutrality: Pros and Cons
Net neutrality is a controversial topic because it has very compelling pros and cons. For this reason, it is also difficult to legislate on net neutrality or enforce it via judicial systems.
Net Neutrality Pros and Cons
Net neutrality pros
The several pros in favor of net neutrality include:
1. Provides equal opportunity for all internet-based businesses
The principles of net neutrality guarantee that those with greater financial resources do not receive preferential treatment. Without net neutrality regulations, broadband providers can slow down the online products and services of small enterprises that cannot afford the costs of so-called fast lanes. The same is true for relatively smaller creators whose YouTube channels are their primary source of income. None of them can compete with giant, global businesses.
2. Drives user empowerment
What type of data, service, or product are you searching for? What type of video do you want to watch? Do you favor blogs, web series, YouTube, or simply Vimeo? Users have access to all content, regardless of type, so long as it is legitimate. Illicit material is monitored regardless, and unlawful websites on what is known as the ‘surface web’ get shut down immediately.
3. Facilitates better journalism and freedom of expression
The tenets of net neutrality prohibit ISPs from dictating what data or content consumers can and can’t view on the internet. This is essential for journalism and gives people more options for news and entertainment.
Net neutrality safeguards the wide range of voices online, upholding the right to free expression and guaranteeing that ISPs do not impede users’ access to various viewpoints. For instance, internet service providers could have private interests in removing specific points of view from their platforms, and net neutrality prevents this from happening.
4. Affordability of high-bandwidth applications
Most OTT subscribers and the organizations that work with them favor net neutrality. Netflix, Amazon, and several other companies oppose the repealing of net neutrality regulations. This is because their high-bandwidth websites may be targeted for penalties by ISPs. Without net neutrality safeguards, ISPs could charge more from OTT subscribers, gamers on the web, and even business customers whose internet usage is more costly for ISPs to manage.
5. Equal access to digital ads and marketing
Without net neutrality, smaller companies may be unable to pay for ads in popular locations or high-traffic online publications. Large companies will continue to be able to spend on digital advertising and may be willing to pay as much as necessary, and the same cannot be said for startups. Net neutrality can ensure that every company starts on a level playing field regarding digital marketing and social media advertising.
6. Equitable access and social upliftment
Net neutrality ensures that all content on the web is accessible to all users. If access to high-quality online content becomes a privilege reserved for the affluent, social exclusion and inequality will rise. Without net neutrality regulations, internet service providers could charge businesses for enhanced services such as online banking and priority healthcare.
7. Ensures better user experience
Most users have several online memberships for the consumption of content. This is only possible because of net neutrality, which also assures an uninterrupted content experience for any and all these options. Needless to say, user experience will deteriorate without this. For instance, if an ISP prioritizes Hulu because the company paid more for faster user access, Netflix will constantly buffer, making it a very annoying service to use and hurting its popularity.
8. Guarantees open market competition
Rich online businesses could pay to make their online presence more accessible via internet fast lanes. Net neutrality laws prohibit ISPs from charging companies, such as industry rivals, to have their consumers access their services faster.
Without any regulation, there could be situations in which Netflix outbids competitors such as Amazon Prime Video for the faster delivery of its programs to users. Net neutrality ensures that internet-based businesses focus on the quality of their offerings instead of simply paying more to reach users faster.
See More: What Is Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC)? Definition, Design, Importance and Examples
Net neutrality cons
Some of the arguments put forward by the detractors of net neutrality are listed below.
1. Fewer funds for network innovation
The development of more advanced internet services has increased bandwidth demand. In the opinion of several providers, this has necessitated increased expenditure on capacity. This may decrease funding for service innovation unless users pay more for additional capacity consumption. If net neutrality were to be abolished, ISPs could charge businesses that build resource-intensive web platforms. They can then use these funds for network enhancement and innovation in services.
2. Inadvertent censorship
Some detractors worry that net neutrality laws can pave the way for government censorship. They argue that, while drafting net neutrality regulations, authorities can bake in exceptions and special clauses. This would impose net neutrality on private players and not government ones.
For instance, if a government deems certain traffic categories ‘inappropriate’ or ‘undesirable,’ it might apply net neutrality principles to block or impede such traffic. Without net neutrality regulations, such legislation would not be drafted in the first place.
3. Unfair pricing
With net neutrality, everyone will pay a comparable amount of money for a specific category of bandwidth and performance. However, this does not imply that the data consumed is identical. Streaming services, for instance, use far more network hardware and software infrastructure than social media companies. From the point of view of net neutrality, this implies that certain individuals pay a non-equivalent fee for their internet access.
4. Additional regulatory and compliance burden
Net neutrality adds to the regulatory aspect for both ISPs and the governments enforcing it. According to net neutrality statutes, governments must monitor ISP adherence to these regulations. This includes filing multiple reports yearly, which can be expensive for ISPs of any scale. Governments must also dedicate funds to enforce net neutrality and take wrong-doers to task.
5. Added costs for ISPs
Internet service providers address most of net neutrality’s drawbacks. They possess the infrastructure needed to offer internet services to subscribers. They are responsible for its maintenance and hope to profit from it. Further, when an individual uses more bandwidth, it means more expenses, although they cannot always impose proportionate add-on costs. This adds to their costs without increasing their revenue.
See More: What is an Intranet? Meaning, Features, and Best Practices
Takeaway
Network neutrality is a nuanced and contentious issue essential to an open and free internet. Enabling accessibility, freedom of choice, or transparency of internet products helps users have complete access to all available online services, apps, or content. However, internet service providers and telecom carriers argue against it. That is why it is helpful to have regulations around net neutrality to prevent non-compliance or policy violations.
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