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Senate votes to save net neutrality—here's what happens next

[Photo by: Corinne Kutz/Unsplash]

Back in December, the Federal Communications Commission voted to kill net neutrality, originally enacted under President Obama in 2015, despite widespread opposition from the public and lawmakers.

Now, the U.S. Senate has voted to reverse the FCC decision—here's what you need to know about it.

Watch more: My Chemical Romance parody wants to make you care about net neutrality—watch

As previously reported, the FCC officially terminated net neutrality protections Thursday, Jan. 4, following a mid-December vote, despite widespread opposition from the public and lawmakers. 

Net neutrality is meant to give everyone on the internet equal footing. It's what allows John Doe in Montana to have just as much of a voice on the internet as would a giant corporation. So the repeal meant the FCC was giving internet service providers control over your free rein of the internet—it gives telecom and cable companies the ability to divvy up your access to certain websites, ostensibly creating paid “tiers” of web destinations, or to simply block or throttle your access to particular sites based on their own interests. (You can read the FCC's 539 pages of rollback specifics here.)

On Wednesday, the Senate voted to preserve net neutrality, which means blocking the FCC decision and maintaining the rules set by President Obama in 2015. The final tally was 52–47, reports Wired.

Although that's a victory for net neutrality, it's not yet the final decision. The resolution also has to be approved by the House and signed by President Trump.

The Washington Post notes that although it's hard to predict how the House will vote on the issue, it's unlikely the Trump administration will make a move toward protecting net neutrality, because they supported the FCC's decision last year.

However, that doesn't mean we should give up the fight to keep net neutrality intact. Visit battleforthenet.com to help get Congress to stop this. Plus, you can join the ACLU in bringing the fight to Congress here.

Let your voice be heard.

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