Sioux Falls stands for Net Neutrality

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Lillian D.

People from all over Sioux Falls are protesting to keep Net Neutrality alive.

Lillian D., Staff Writer

Dec. 7 was the day of nation-wide protest to keep Net Neutrality in place. Sioux Falls was one of the many cities to join in, with its citizens vocally standing outside Verizon to make themselves heard.

Ranging from high school students to older people, the city stood together. The freezing 20 degree weather stopped nobody as the passing by traffic got a look at the brightly colored posters informing the public on their stance.

LHS junior Will Howes organized the event for the whole city to attend.

“When I started this, [I thought] 10 or 20 people would show, and that would be dope,” said Howes. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

People that support the cause became very vocal online. With one person making a Reddit post, another was able to attend the protest because he saw that post. Snapchat also became an outlet for people to repost and share information on the issue.

“Everyone came together to spread the word, and I had no idea,” said Howes.

Hunter, a local protester was very much against what role Verizon is playing at Net Neutrality.

“I really think corporations are really trying to [limit us],” said Hunter. “I think it’s really unfair  that the FCC is a former Verizon Wireless employer is in charge right now to change the the rules of the Internet.”

A local protester is all for keeping the internet more accessible to help businesses and those who less populated areas.

“I want to keep Net Neutrality,” said protestor Sue Benz. “It’s important for small businesses and rural areas. It allows people to have equal access to information, and I’m very disappointed to hear that people are even talking about taking it away.”

Media, access to information and controlling of business Internet traffic is just some of the reasons why Net Neutrality would affect everyone.

“We are protesting while we can because we can’t vote on this issue unfortunately,” said Corey Heitman. “The most important thing, bottom line, is equal access to information. If you’re under a government that wants to suppress different forms of information, they can give easy access to one content provider that represents their point of view and make things much slower for other piece of media or business.”