So, What Exactly Is Net Neutrality?
Think of the internet as a highway system and your Internet Service Provider (ISP)—like Comcast, Verizon, or AT&T—as the company that owns the roads. Net neutrality is the rule that says the road-owner has to treat all traffic equally. It doesn't matter
if you're driving a brand-new sports car (representing Netflix) or a beat-up pickup truck (representing a friend's new blog). You all get to use the same roads at the same speed. Without net neutrality, your ISP could create paid "fast lanes" for companies willing to pay more, while slowing down, or "throttling," everyone else. They could even block access to certain websites or apps that compete with their own services. At its core, net neutrality ensures that ISPs are just a utility delivering access, not a gatekeeper controlling content.
The Internet's Invisible Foundation
This principle is the bedrock on which the modern internet was built. For years, the web grew explosively precisely because access was open. When YouTube and Netflix were just scrappy startups, they could compete because their videos were delivered to you with the same priority as content from massive, established media corporations. This level playing field is a powerful engine for innovation and free expression. New ideas, businesses, and social movements could gain a foothold without having to first pay a toll to an ISP. This open architecture allowed the internet to become a dynamic space for commerce, communication, and culture, rather than a curated experience controlled by a handful of powerful telecommunication giants.
A Political and Legal Tug-of-War
The fight to formalize this principle into law has been a dizzying back-and-forth. In 2015, the Obama-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed strong net neutrality rules, classifying broadband as a utility-like service. Then, in 2017, the Trump-era FCC reversed that decision, repealing the rules. The cycle continued when the Biden-era FCC voted to restore them in April 2024. However, the legal ground shifted dramatically afterward. Citing a Supreme Court decision that reined in the power of federal agencies, a U.S. appeals court struck down the FCC's rules in early 2025. This ruling effectively declared that the FCC could not impose net neutrality without explicit direction from Congress. As a result, by mid-2026, there are no enforceable federal net neutrality rules in the United States.
A Patchwork of State-Level Protections
With the federal government on the sidelines, the battle has shifted to the states. This has created a complex and uneven landscape of protections. States like California, Washington, and Oregon have passed their own robust net neutrality laws, essentially creating state-level versions of the rules the FCC can no longer enforce nationally. California's law, for example, is considered a gold standard, banning blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization schemes. Other states have taken different approaches or have no specific rules at all. This means that whether your internet connection is governed by the principle of neutrality largely depends on your zip code. Your ISP must navigate this patchwork of regulations while consumers are left with varying degrees of protection from potential abuses.
