Hello, my dear friends. I understand that Scratch isn’t the best place to talk about political issues, but this is something that I feel is worrying enough to be discussed. You see, this thing that’s been going on with net neutrality isn’t just going to affect adults, it’s going to affect every. Single. Person. Ever. Before I really begin, I should explain what net neutrality is. According to Wikipedia, ‘Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content.’ In other words, everyone on the internet is treated equally. You must be wondering why I would suddenly bring this up, and why it’s so important. Well, I have news for you. An American government party known as the FCC is trying to shut it down. Yes, they’re trying to take it away. Do you know what this means? Government officials will control what you can and can’t see. They can block you from websites, and they can charge fees based on who you are. There are so many opportunities to be racist and discriminate, it doesn’t seem safe, even in the hands of government officials. But wait! It gets worse! Net neutrality ensures that all websites are allowed to load at the same kind of speed. If that is taken away, then the only sites that will ever be able to load fast will be all the big corporations that can actually afford to pay for it. Not only will internet be slowed down, millions, I repeat, MILLIONS of websites will be shut down through this thoughtless course of action. Chances are, you’re going to have to start PAYING to go on the internet. PAYING for YouTube, PAYING for Tumblr, DeviantArt, Twitter, Facebook, and the THOUSANDS of other social networking sites that you use every day to connect. Scratch is one of them. Scratch is one of the smaller networking sites, it’s more of an educational website where kids learn to code. But it gets used nonetheless. If Scratch is one of the smaller websites, there is a very real chance that it will be AFFECTED SEVERELY by the FCC’s abolishment of the Net Neutrality rules. Because it isn’t one of the mainstream websites, it will be force the owners of this website to pay excessive amounts of money just to make it load properly. You know what else will happen? You’ll be forced to PAY FOR YOUR TIME HERE if you’re going to converse with friends and enjoy life like you used to. WORRIED?! Well, YOU SHOULD BE!!! Now you’re wondering why you haven’t heard it on the news earlier. Let me tell you something; the US government is fearing a reaction. The FCC wants their plans to be in action, they’re bribing all the news outlets to keep quiet and suing the ones who don’t. They’re probably going to try and get this project unshared if they realise I’m here. But I don’t care about that anymore. I would rather go down fighting for a cause that everyone cares about than hide away in feelings of guilt, knowing I didn’t do my best. The government is fearing that this news reaches too many people, and they’re keeping quiet about it. But we won’t stay quiet. Thousands have already began to organise riots on the street, demanding that the internet retains its freedom! Please! Help us! I need as many people as possible to sign the petitions and send the emails! This isn’t MY fight, this is OURS! Let’s all work together to prevent internet Armageddon! We have to hurry, they vote on December 14th and that’s not long to go. Remix this to spread awareness, please! Here’s a long list of ways you can SAVE THE INTERNET below!! No time to lose, TOGETHER, WE CAN SAVE NET NEUTRALITY ONCE AND FOR ALL!! Save your words, the FCC isn't going to click on this project. Do what you MUST in the link below! FILL THEIR INBOXES!! WE CAN'T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!! https://www.battleforthenet.com/ Here's a link to the FCC emails: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/191272178/ .
