What Doers Need to Know About Net Neutrality

Depending on how much of your business is web-based (and how many of your spare hours are spent on social media) you’ve probably heard the words “net neutrality” a lot lately. Or maybe you’re just a John Oliver fan.

At Fiverr, our mission is to help you grow your business and thrive by doing what you love. We’re increasingly concerned that anything that hampers the flow of a free and open internet could significantly damage your ability to do that as a small business, freelancer, and/or entrepreneur.

Allowing huge corporate internet service providers (ISPs) to create slow and fast lanes on the internet or cut deals that could cut off access to certain sites, applications, or services goes against what we know to be better for business — and best for you. That’s why we’ve teamed up with some of the top organizations that are fighting every day to keep the internet open for all, like the ACLU and Battle for the Net, to provide you with the information and resources you need on this important topic.

• Learn the Facts
• Right now, internet service providers or ISPs (think Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, or whomever you get your internet from) are considered a utility — like power, water, or gas — and the government has the right to oversee them in that way
• But on December 14, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote to make sweeping changes to the way they regulate internet services providers (ISPs)
• By deregulating ISPs, we’d be allowing them to block certain apps, slow down certain websites, and even control what sites or news outlets we can access
• This has the potential to make it much more difficult for small businesses to compete with bigger ones: just think about what happens if you use a software owned by a company that competes with your ISP, so they decide to shut down your access to it. Or if your own business website starts loading so slowly or not showing up clearly, driving customers back to bigger brands who can afford to pay for preferential service with ISPs.
• Most of us don’t have a ton of choice when it comes to our home or office internet service provider, and if those ISPs can block, slow down, or charge more for access, we’re likely to see very big changes in the way the internet works and business is conducted online

• Contact Your Representative

The US Senate is currently pushing the FCC to take more time to consider the implications of these sweeping changes. Do you know where your representative stands on this issue? Use this tool from the ACLU to find out and contact your members of Congress to let them know why this is so important to you and your business!

• Organize Online

Lots of people are organizing online to show how important this issue is to them and to their livelihoods. With this tool from Battle for the Net, you can snap a selfie and share it directly with the FCC to tell them why net neutrality is so important to you.

‍Have questions about net neutrality? Ask them in the comments below.