Net Neutrality

What did we have prior to the introduction of “Net Neutrality”? Why did this legislation come out of nowhere in 2015? Why was it so heavily advertised? Who paid for the advertising, and who benefited from it? Firstly, Bill Clinton’s Telecommunication Act of 1996 legalized the monopolization of the media, paving the way for a two-decade corporatist crusade to consolidate dozens of media outlets into just six: Comcast, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, News Corp, CBS, and it’s still shrinking.

The corporate monoliths already controlled most of the internet’s media and all of the social media platforms, so why exactly are the ISPs so important now? Before Verizon v. FCC, the FCC classified ISPs under Title I of Clinton’s 1996 Telecommunications Act, meaning they acted as private entities with minimal regulation from the government. Separate and unrelated to that classification, the FCC held ISPs accountable to the Open-Internet Rules (no throttling, no blocking, no paid-prioritization).

Verizon v. FCC chanced that, ruling that if the FCC wanted to enforce Open-Internet Rules, they need to reclassify ISPs under Title II as quasi-utilities strictly regulated as “common carriers,” effectively a state-licensed monopoly. The most critical factor here is that under Title II, ISPs need to apply for Broadcasting Licenses, which give the government massive leverage over them. There was an insane amount of influence being exerted over Verizon v. FCC by tech companies and their politicians. Netflix allegedly manipulated their own service to frame the ISPs for throttling.

It may have been that the lawsuit’s outcome was purely coincidental, but regardless, it was a huge victory for corporate influence. They were basically one step closer to forcing the ISPs to apply for Broadcasting Licenses with regular renewal. Without the license, the ISP goes bankrupt.

At this point, the FCC was basically stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they want to enforce Open-Internet, they have to practically nationalize the internet, and the company that wants to offer access must get a Broadcasting License. Enter Barack Obama to save the day. He pressures the FCC to move forward with Title II classification and give the government sweeping authority over internet infrastructure. This potentially unpopular move is quickly rebranded with a cute name and sold to the public as… “Net Neutrality.” Surprise!

The public is told they’re saving the internet! But from whom? Ha. From the very people who are telling them to save it! Whether intentionally or by coincidence, corporate interests revoked Open Internet in Verizon v. FCC, repackaged it, and sold it back to us in a box full of red tape.

Net Neutrality invokes Title II of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to require all ISPs to register for Broadcasting Licenses and renew them regularly. Well, what if the FCC doesn’t want to renew them?

“Ah, but that’s just crazy talk. The FCC can’t just revoke a Broadcasting License on a whim. It would be taken to court in seconds.”

But imagine what happens when you’re appointed by the president as chairman of the FCC, and shortly after you get a call from whatever shitty president rules your timeline and tells you that a particular ISP needs to have its license revoked because it’s violating federal law. Maybe you’d tell him to go fuck himself. Then you get a little visit from your lawyer who walks in, looking pale as a ghost, and hands you a legal document titled Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016 (S. 2692).

Little beads of sweat start to form on your forehead as you begin reading the mission statement, “…counter foreign propaganda and disinformation from our enemies by establishing an interagency center housed at the State Department…” That’s weird. Usually agencies are created independent from other branches of the government, specifically to preserve accountability and limit conflict of interest. Why would you bother creating an independent agency if you’re literally going to house it in the White House?

“Interagency center”

Ok, so it’s a center, of multiple agencies. In the White House…

Page 1399,--“The head of the Center…shall be appointed by the President.”

…That answers directly to the President? Okay? What exactly is it going to do?

“Maintain, collect, use, and disseminate records for research and data analysis of foreign state and non-state propaganda disinformation efforts.”

Wait, what? Non-state propaganda? What does that mean? Like my evening shitposts on Reddit? Literally everyone on the planet is not a state. And how exactly is “propaganda” defined? Huh, that’s strange… There’s no definition in here. Like they deliberately omitted it so they can just… call it whatever they want.

You look up at your lawyer dumbfounded. “How the fuck did Obama get this through Congress?”

Your lawyer throws another file on your desk.

“He didn’t.”

The file is titled National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.

“He waited until Christmas Eve and hid it inside of the 3,000 page annual military budget so nobody would notice it.”

“Sweet baby Jesus. “ The lawyer flips throu the 3,076 pages of the NDAA to page 1,396 (or 1,438 in pdf format).
SEC. 1287. GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT CENTER.

“Identifying current and emerging trends in foreign propaganda and disinformation, including the use of print, broadcast, online and social media, support for third party outlets such as think tanks, political parties, and nongovernmental organizations, and the use of covert or clandestine special operators and agents to influence targeted populations and governments in order to coordinate and shape the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures to expose and refute foreign misinformation and disinformation.”

Not even Tom Clancy would write shit like this… sending “clandestine special operators” to brainwash their own people. But just wait. It gets even better.

“Second, the legislation seeks to leverage expertise from outside government… provide grants and contracts to NGOs, civil society organizations, think tanks, private sector companies, media organizations, and other experts outside the U.S. government…”

So basically they get to call in their “totally-neutral third-party” friends, and, together, they can call anyone a propagandists. They can go after literally anyone who’s been flagged by a third-party “fact-checker” without having to take them to court. Those fact-checkers were there all along for a reason. They started flooding the internet with disinformation and then branding outlets with the cute term “fake news” to generate demand for fact-checkers. And then they satisfied the demand that they created. They trained the public to accept the idea of “neutral third-parties” policing online content. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google, all the tech companies, and the White House itself were planning to use bots to auto-flag and censor any content that contradicts the fact-checkers across the entire internet.

It’s brilliant really. They control the fact-checkers, the enforcers, and with the passage of Net Neutrality and the adoption of Title II, the infrastructure to utilize them. Once a propagandist has been targeted, the President can use absolutely anything in the government to stop them.

“The Center will develop, integrate, and synchronize whole-of-government initiatives to expose and counter foreign disinformation operations…”

And that’s it, ladies and gentlemen. That’s why passing “Net Neutrality” was so important. The President, whoever that may be, uses the “whole-of-government” to suppress information he/she deems to be propaganda. Thanks to the adoption of Title II, they can order all ISPs to take down hostile information and any websites that distribute it. If the ISP refuses, their Title II Broadcasting License is legally revoked, they can no longer do business, they go bankrupt, and the government can buy out their infrastructure. The government can integrate into the ISPs to censor anything, anywhere, at any time. The ISPs are forced to obey.

They can physically shut down your access to the internet without a court order. Just because someone called you a “propagandist” All of this was 100% legal because they passed every law they needed to do it.

It’s amazing, particularly given the hysteria about Trump, that almost everyone I know has been fighting for a benignly named bit of legislation that would ultimately give the President supreme authority to censor any information he determined was unfit for distribution.

One more final quote:

Page 1446: “The Center shall terminate on the date that is 8 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.”

S. 2692 – Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/2692/text

S. 2943 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/2943/text