Why is net neutrality important?

You could pay more for less Internet

The European Commission and Council want to adopt a regulation that could allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to discriminate between different types of customers and different types of online content, in order to charge extra for most types of online services. Only those who pay more would have easy access to the Internet – killing the openness that drives the Internet's social and economic success.

Freedom of speech may be lost

Even though the Parliament previously insisted on respect for the rule of law and opposed arbitrary censorship, the compromise text has no obvious meaning in this regard, failing to effectively protect Internet users from censorship. The text was proposed by the UK as a means of creating confusion, allowing Britain's arbitrary, unaccountable, counterproductive Internet blocking and filtering to continue. Such power in hands of private companies would greatly damage our freedom of expression online and endangers freedom of speech and the rule of law across Europe, if accepted in this regulation.

Surcharge fee for Innovation

The diversity and innovative capacity of the Internet depends upon its openness and neutrality. This risks being dramatically undermined if the regulation does not outlaw discriminatory specialised services, class based traffic management and the practice of zero-rating. We have to protect the neutral infrastructure of the Internet from discriminatory business models that try to make money with scarcity. The creation of a new monopoly allowing Internet service providers to decide who gets access to their customers and under what conditions must be prevented.

Now is the time to fix the regulation, bring clarity to the text and ensure that network discrimination will not be permitted in the EU.

 

What has happened since 2014?

In negotiations with the EU Member States and the European Commission, representatives of the Parliament accepted a compromise text whose lack of clarity could be used by regulators to permit network discrimination. Unless the text is amended by the Parliament, it will be up to regulators and the European Commission - that did not stand for net neutrality - to give meaning to the compromise text, in the months after the Parliament's vote.

On 3rd April 2014, the European Parliament voted in favour of clear and binding rules for net neutrality. This victory was yours since many of you contacted MEPs to ask them to take a stand for the free and open Internet.

After months of delay and negotiations, on 30th June 2015, the EU institutions agreed on an incoherent, unclear text that leaves it to regulators and the European Commission to decide whether net neutrality will be protected or not. They could interpret the text in ways that allow for paid fast-lanes and kill the best effort Internet in the EU.

Now; we have one last chance to repair this dangerous and ambiguous text during the Plenary vote in the European Parliament on October 28. Now is the time to contact your MEP and tell them to stand by their decision from April 2014 and not to let big telecoms companies destroy your freedoms online. The battle over the Internet in Europe is on!

Net neutrality is the founding principle of the Internet. It guarantees that all data packets are treated equally. This principle guarantees that the Internet will remain diverse, innovative, and free. Telecoms companies want to change that. They want to establish new business models based on discrimination and restrictions. We cannot give up the economic and social value of the Internet just to help the short-term plans of a handful of companies to make more money.

We need your help to prompt Parliamentarians to protect the open and neutral Internet - ask them to protect network neutrality!

Take action now!

Contact the Members of the European Parliament (MEP).
Ask them to defend their strong position for net neutrality in Europe!

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How to Contact Your MEP

Act now to tell your representatives to protect our rights and freedoms. The best way to do this is by calling a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). But you can also send them a Fax, a letter or an E-Mail - we provide you with all the information and calling them is free of charge.

General advice

Stay polite and be yourself. Whatever happens, don't forget the basic rules of courtesy and common sense. Whether you agree or disagree with the individual answering you, and whatever the views of other members of her/his political group, don't say anything that would give a negative image of people who are advocating for net neutrality.

Most of the time, you will talk with a Parliamentary assistant, and not directly with an MEP. It's not a problem. Engage in the conversation. Assistants play an important role in the development of the MEPs' positions. If a question to which you don't have the answer comes up, don't panic.

You are not expected to be an expert, only a concerned citizen. Tell the MEP you will research the answer and contact him/her when you have more information. Contact us to help you out via info /at/ savetheinternet.eu.

Fax

With our Fax Tool you can send your message to a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). It will be received electronically in the office of your representative. It is important that you personalize your message. Everything that we write about e-mails also applies to fax.

Mail

You can also contact your MEP by email. Their addresses are available in the mail widget above.

We prefer this approach than sending generic form emails to all MEPs. They know how to use a spam filter as well as you and those emails end up in spam folders quickly. Generic form emails give the impression that you do not want to take the time to get interested in the matter and do not reflect the number of people involved in it (a single person can send several messages). Worse, such emails increase the risk that MEPs do not read the personalized emails on the same dossier and finally hurting your cause.

The best solution is to send personalized emails based on your own views and your knowledge of the matter (Remember: you are not expected to be an expert, only a concerned citizen) and, if possible, according to the positions of the MEPs political group.

Tweet your MEP

Sending a Tweet to an MEP is a very effective way of getting them involved with an issue. Twitter discussions are public, which helps you to get the politicians attention because MEPs don't want to lose a debate in public. 140 characters for one Tweet are easily written and do not take much of your time.

Facebook

If you make the effort to write a text it is also helpful to send this text to the MEPs via Facebook. You can either send them a private message or even write on their Facebook page if their privacy settings allow this. To post publicly on their page about net neutrality gives the issue more traction and can spark a public discussion in our favour.

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