Editing Net neutrality (section)

{{short description|Principle that Internet service providers should treat all data equally}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

<!-- See talk page before editing the image. This is included per [[WP:CONSENSUS]].-->
[[File:Screenshot-2017-10-28 MEO - Televisão, Internet, Telefone e Telemóvel.png|thumb|right|350px|Portuguese [[Internet service provider]] [[MEO (Portugal)|MEO]] offers smartphone contracts with monthly data limits, and sells additional monthly packages for particular data services.<ref>
From MEO: {{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214100904/https://www.meo.pt/telemovel/tarifarios/unlimited|title=Pós-Pagos Unlimited|date=December 14, 2017|publisher=MEO|url=https://www.meo.pt/telemovel/tarifarios/unlimited|archive-date=2017-12-14}}</ref> Critics of EU net neutrality rules say loopholes allow data for different services to be sold under [[zero rating]] exceptions to data limits.<ref name=guardianeu>{{cite news|last1=Hern|first1=Alex|title=EU net neutrality laws fatally undermined by loopholes, critics say|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/27/eu-net-neutrality-laws-fatally-undermined-by-loopholes-critics-say|access-date=February 16, 2016|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=October 27, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213124554/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/27/eu-net-neutrality-laws-fatally-undermined-by-loopholes-critics-say|archive-date=February 13, 2016}}</ref> Consumer advocates of net neutrality have cited this pricing model as an illustration of [[Internet access]] with weak net neutrality protection.<ref>This particular image has been the subject of discussion in media including the following:
* {{cite web|last1=Doctorow|first1=Cory|author-link=Cory Doctorow|title=Portuguese non-neutral ISP shows us what our Trumpian internet will look like/Boing Boing|url=https://boingboing.net/2017/10/28/warning-taken-as-suggestion.html|website=[[Boing Boing]]|date=October 28, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130022508/https://boingboing.net/2017/10/28/warning-taken-as-suggestion.html|archive-date=November 30, 2017}}
* {{cite web|last1=Coren|first1=Michael J.|title=Without net neutrality in Portugal, mobile internet is bundled like a cable package|url=https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand|website=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]|date=October 30, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130053010/https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand/|archive-date=November 30, 2017}}
* {{cite web|last1=Bode|first1=Karl|title=Portugal Shows The Internet Why Net Neutrality Is Important|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171030/12364538513/portugal-shows-internet-why-net-neutrality-is-important.shtml|website=[[Techdirt]]|date=October 31, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201045336/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171030/12364538513/portugal-shows-internet-why-net-neutrality-is-important.shtml|archive-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref>
]]{{Net neutrality}}
{{Internet}}

'''Net neutrality''', sometimes referred to as '''network neutrality''', is the principle that [[Internet service provider]]s (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering [[User (computing)|users]] and online content providers consistent transfer rates regardless of content, website, [[computing platform|platform]], [[application software|application]], type of equipment, source address, destination address, or method of communication (i.e., without [[price discrimination]]).<ref name=":2032">{{Cite SSRN|title=Easley, R., Guo, H., Krämer, J. – From Net Neutrality to Data Neutrality, Information Systems Research 29(2):253–272|date=8 March 2017 |language=en-US|ssrn = 2666217|last1=Easley |first1=Robert F. |last2=Guo |first2=Hong |last3=Kraemer |first3=Jan }}</ref><ref>{{cite report | first=Angele A. | last=Gilroy | title=Access to Broadband Networks: The Net Neutrality Debate | page=1 | publisher=DIANE Publishing | isbn=978-1437984545 | date=11 March 2011}}</ref> Net neutrality was advocated for in the 1990s by the presidential administration of [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton]] in the United States. Clinton signed of the [[Telecommunications Act of 1996]], an amendment to the [[Communications Act of 1934]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statement on Signing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-signing-the-telecommunications-act-1996 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Shumate |first1=Brett |last2=Wiley |first2=Richard |date=28 August 2015 |title=Net Neutrality and the Rule of Law |url=https://fedsoc.org/fedsoc-review/net-neutrality-and-the-rule-of-law-1 |website=The Federalist Society}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=May 2024}} In 2025, an American court ruled that Internet companies should not be regulated like utilities, which weakened net neutrality regulation and put the decision in the hands of the [[United States Congress]] and state legislatures.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Natalie |title=Court strikes down US net neutrality rules |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gl417l757o |website=BBC |access-date=3 January 2025}}</ref>

Supporters of net neutrality argue that it prevents ISPs from filtering Internet content without a court order, fosters [[freedom of speech]] and democratic participation, promotes competition and innovation, prevents dubious services, and maintains the [[end-to-end principle]], and that users would be intolerant of slow-loading websites. Opponents argue that it reduces investment, deters competition, increases taxes, imposes unnecessary regulations, prevents the Internet from being accessible to lower income individuals, and prevents Internet traffic from being allocated to the most needed users, that large ISPs already have a performance advantage over smaller providers, and that there is already significant competition among ISPs with few competitive issues.