BENGALURU: Activists, satire groups and even politicians have joined the fight to save the internet from what they see as a continuing assault on its neutrality.
Social media sites have been flooded with campaigns after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) sought views by April 24 on regulating Over-The-Top (OTT) services such as the delivery of audio, video, and other media on mobile internet networks.
Net neutrality is a term which means all content on the net should be accessible to all internet users, and internet service providers cannot charge more for surfing a website they don’t endorse. It also means one can make voice over internet protocol (VOIP) calls through mobile phone apps.
Net neutrality activists believe ‘preferential access’ will curb people’s freedom in accessing the internet.
Smarika Kumar, a lawyer at the Alternate Law Forum, said there should be a thorough discussion before any decision on net neutrality is taken. The argument for net neutrality is the freedom to access all content and information on the internet. “It allows healthy competition as well,” she says.