The debate around “net neutrality” is back, only this time there is even less chance that the matter will be settled for good. You’re right to feel exhausted — and more than a little frustrated.
Smarm aside, he had a point. Awkwardly, for the legions of net neutrality advocates — most notably John Oliver, whose blistering commentary brought the matter to the fore — not much noticeable happened when net neutrality was supposedly abolished that day. ISPs didn’t create fast and slow lanes on the internet. Pay-per-view fees didn’t crop up for popular applications. Marginalized groups didn’t face censorship and discrimination .
Those pointing to ISPs’ “good behavior” are being disingenuous at best. The 2018 decision to reverse the FCC’s earlier net neutrality rule was being challenged in court until 2020, by which point several states, such as California, had set up or had in motion their own net neutrality regulations in the absence of a federal one.