While the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules seemed like a blow to the freedom of the internet, it seems that not everyone is behind the organization’s decision. States such as New York and Montana have announced that they will be implementing their own net neutrality rules, and now it looks like New Jersey is getting on board with the program as well.In a report from The Hill, New Jersey’s governor Phil Murphy has signed an executive order that will prohibit all internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, throttling, or favoring certain content as long as they do business in the state, which more or less is similar to what the states of Montana and New York have implemented as well.
In a statement issued by Murphy, “We may not agree with everything we see online, but that does not give us a justifiable reason to block the free, uninterrupted, and indiscriminate flow of information. And, it certainly doesn’t give certain companies or individuals a right to pay their way to the front of the line. While New Jersey cannot unilaterally regulate net neutrality back into law or cement it as a state regulation, we can exercise our power as a consumer to make our preferences known.”
For those wondering about net neutrality, basically this was a ruling in which it prevented ISPs from giving preference to certain customers in terms of bandwidth. For example a company might pay an ISP more money to make their content load faster than a competitor’s, or it could be that customers who wish to view certain popular websites might need to pay more to access that content faster. In fact Burger King recently put out an ad about net neutrality which explains the concept really well.
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