The Trump administration’s proposed changes to net neutrality would impact the online experiences of LGBT individuals, a number of commentators have suggested.
Net neutrality is the legal principle which forces internet service providers to give consumers equal access to content, regardless of its source.
The proposed repeal of the legislation would allow service providers to discriminate between sites at their own discretion, and to speed up or slow down access to content.
There is a concern that niche content, or content only relevant to a minority audience, would work more slowly than mainstream content.
Internet Service Providers may also be able to block access certain sites altogether, newnownext.com report, and LGBT sites could be at risk for hosting ‘offensive’ material.
Social networking, online dating and health resources may all become more difficult to access, and the LGBT community may find it more difficult to interact and organise as a result of the changes.
The Republican view of net neutrality is that greater freedom for service providers would allow for more competition, and that any restrictive practices by one provider would cause them to suffer vis-a-vis another.
Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, and Slovenia are some of the countries which already operate without net neutrality.