Congress Votes to End Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission voted to end net neutrality by a 3-2 vote along party lines, the Associated Press reports. The vote could usher in huge changes for how people access the internet. Internet service providers can now favor certain internet apps and sites.

According to the AP, several broadband industries have promised that consumers would see no change in their internet services. Legal challengers from net neutrality supporters are expected to follow.

In a statement, LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD called the Trump administration’s vote “an attack on the LGBTQ community.”

“Stripping away net neutrality is the latest attempt by the Trump Administration to silence voices of already marginalized communities and render us invisible,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD said in a statement. “The internet is a lifeline for LGBTQ people to build community support networks and access LGBTQ resources on history, suicide prevention, and healthallowing broadband providers to regulate access is a direct and unconscionable attack on freedom of expression.”

After the FCC repealed its own agency’s net neutrality decision, which was made in 2015 under the Obama administration, Congress must vote to approve.

INTO reported previously on the importance of net neutrality for LGBTQ youth. One 2013 report from GLSEN titled “Out Online,” outlined how formative the internet is for queer youth yearning to learn about their sexuality.