President Barack Obama recently voiced his support for net neutrality and urged the Federal Communications Commission to preserve a free and open Internet through governmental regulations.

People often balk at government regulation of the Internet, typically associating it with censorship. But in this case, Obama’s suggestions will help to protect our freedom online. Republicans have criticized net neutrality, but their opinions are likely clouded by big business favoritism. The president needed to voice support for net neutrality to protect Americans, and the FCC should incorporate his suggestions into regulations that preserve it.

Big Internet providers, such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable, would like to charge a premium to content providers, namely websites, in order for their data to be transmitted more quickly to users. In essence, this would create a fast lane for companies that could afford the premiums and a slow lane for everyone else.

Obama asked the FCC to make regulations that prevent Internet providers from having their way. He provided simple guidelines for these rules that would ensure equal treatment of all data, with no fast lane for higher-paying customers.

Supporting net neutrality seems obvious enough, and it is something both the GOP and Democrats agree on. According to a survey by the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication, 81 percent of Democrats and 85 percent of Republicans oppose the fast lane that big cable companies are trying to implement. The FCC also asked for Internet comments from Americans regarding net neutrality and received 4 million supporting it, a fact Obama cited in his plan.

With these overwhelming numbers, one would expect all of Congress to be on board with net neutrality as well. After all, bipartisan support would present a stronger case to the FCC. But GOP leaders have been some of the biggest opposition to Obama’s plan.

Republican leaders say that FCC regulations would hurt business and online innovation, but they seem to be confusing business with their favored big business. Under cable’s premium speed plan, smaller businesses would lose out to established companies who could easily pay the price for higher speeds. With regulations, start-up businesses could compete on a more equal level with established companies.

Obama realized that Republicans would support big business, so he needed to take a stand personally. He strengthened the voice of small businesses and individual Americans who might otherwise be silenced by big cable companies’ lobbying efforts. After all, both Republican and Democrat Congressmen received $8 million from major telecom companies in the 2014 election, according to a March 11 Consumerist article, so it’s unlikely that we would hear net neutrality support from them.

Some also argue that Obama’s recommendations for net neutrality are a step out of bounds. But he’s not forcing the FCC to adopt these guidelines. He’s just suggesting “bright lines,” as he calls them, that would preserve an open Internet. It is the president’s job to recognize what is best for Americans and voice his support for government action to fulfill those needs.

Though it is ultimately the FCC’s decision, Obama’s guidelines are essential for preserving freedom and promoting business on the Internet. His support is necessary to ensure that the voices of Americans are really heard. Obama’s ideas are well founded and the FCC should combine his ideas with their expertise to form effective regulations to preserve net neutrality.

Kathryn Krawczyk is a freshman magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at kjkrawczyk@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @KathrynKrawczyk.

Published on November 20, 2014 at 12:01 am