Here’s some background: when we go online, we expect to be able to access any websites that we wish to reach.
We don’t expect our internet service providers to manipulate the speed at which we can view this information, or even block content outright.
Without net neutrality rules, AT&T censored their livestream after Eddie Vedder criticized then-president George W. Bush.
AT&T also blocked the usage of Apple’s video chat service, FaceTime, in their network, so that customers would have to pay for more expensive data plans.
Verizon blocked messages sent by abortion rights group NARAL, saying that their content was too controversial.
Imagine not being able to converse with a friend or loved one, based solely on their political outspokenness, for “attacking the system.”
At the CCP’s annual World Internet Conference, tech industry bigwigs from the West rub shoulders with apparatchiks and China’s internet czar, hoping that a neutered version of their own services can be slotted into the massive Eastern market. »