Reddit Users Hold Spirited 'Net Neutrality Will Kill Porn' Debate

CYBERSPACE—A Reddit thread begun yesterday to spark a discussion on an aspect of net neutrality that has been mostly (though not completely) overlooked—put forth here with the proposition, "If net neutrality is compromised, the porn industry would start to find itself on seriously shaky ground"—has succeeded in attracting the attention of people who seem to be very passionate on the subject. With slightly over 4,200 comments and counting posted as of late Tuesday, the thread has instigated a range of reactions that literally run the political and social gamut. Complete with sweeping digressions into porn's true role in the adoption (or not) of video formats such as VHS, Betamax and Blu-ray, as well as running battles in the inevitable divide between those who are convinced that the FCC's net neutrality plan, in using Title II from the Communications Act of 1934 as a basis of authority, opens the door to governmental control of all aspects of the internet, to those who express just as existential a fear about what they believe is already an inevitable increase in content control by corporate fiat. In addition to the great debates there are dozens of smaller ones staking out a myriad of positions surrounding the idea that net neutrality, because it makes common carriers out of ISPs, gives the government responsibility over the type of content that travels through those ISPs, and that someday, someone in charge will decide that porn should not travel through government-controlled networks. On the flipside of such concern, one of the more common refrains among some Reddits is the comment, "Porn will find a way," echoing Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, of course. The belief that porn, like water, will always find a way to flow, has some elemental truth to it, but in the case of such a large change as that recently outlined by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, which itself has already spawned two congressional hearings into ... drum beat ... "White House interference," something would be wrong if a receptacle contingent of the Reddit community was not primed for outrage over the move. Needless to say, the kneejerk outrage does not mean they are wrong. On the other hand, the article that apparently inspired the thread in the first place, posted Feb. 6 to the Eros.com blog, is titled "Net Neutrality Saves Pornland," by British journalist, writer and sex educator Nichi Hodgson. In it, she argues, "So President Obama may just be the most pro-porn president ever to take office. He’s recently protected net neutrality – and the right of the Federal Communications Commission to uphold it, effectively stating that no ISPs should be allowed to restrict or govern access to content on the internet – even if that content is legal pornography." As well, Public Knowledge, the Washington, D.C.-based public interest group with a strong 'fair use" pedigree, also comes down strong in favor of a Title II solution to the problem of net neutrality. The group even issued a sharp public rebuke today to Commissioner Ajit Pai, one of two Republican members of the FCC, who held a press conference today to characterize Wheeler's proposal as a "secret plan to regulate the Internet," derisively calling it "President Obama’s plan to regulate the Internet." Of that last comment, Public Knowledge's Harold Feld commented, "It is the worst sort of dismissive and elitist insult to the American people, who have participated in the net neutrality debate in unprecedented numbers and spoken with unmistakable clarity across the political spectrum, to call Chairman Wheeler’s proposal ‘Obama’s plan.’ Chairman Wheeler’s proposed Order reflects the demands of the American people, and Chairman Wheeler should be applauded as a hero for being the people’s champion for an open, fast, and fair internet." If anything, the Reddit thread contains passionate expressions of each of the prominent arguments on net neutrality and then some, only with porn serving as an equally stimulating fulcrum around which they all revolve. Expect more of the same in the lead up to the vote by the FCC on the Wheeler proposal on Feb. 26.