Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman December 14, 2017

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 Thursday to scrap so-called “net neutrality” rules, opening the door for a major reshaping of the internet. The rules prevented telecommunication corporations from charging fees for certain kinds of data usage — adding charges for video streaming, say, or social media use — instead of a flat rate.

Proponents of net neutrality say that without the rules, free speech on the internet will be a thing of the past. They worry that telecom giants like Time Warner and Verizon will be able to block sites they don’t like, tilting the internet’s content toward corporate interests and away from equal access.

David Segal, co-founder and director of Demand Progress, a not-for-profit that lobbies for civil liberties, said that’s not just a problem for internet junkies — it’s an issue for Jews.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“The repeal of net neutrality should be an issue of concern to Jews and to any religious or racial or ethnic minority, because it reduces the ability of people to communicate their concerns to the broader world,” Segal said.

Rabbi Sharon Brous warned that social justice would be the loser in a nation without net neutrality.

“I can’t join you in your struggle if I haven’t heard your story,” said Brous, of IKAR in Los Angeles. “An open Internet calls us to hear one another’s stories and beckons us to stand in solidarity for justice, dignity and peace.”

Segal highlighted that minority groups who already have limited access to the internet — such as the rural poor, or Hasidic Jews — will be further marginalized.

He added that if the repeal goes unchallenged, the internet will be a very different place than it is today.

“We’ll see an internet that is shaped around [corporate] interests, and not around the interests of rank and file internet users,” he said. “It will be about extracting profits and about pushing political agendas.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount