Internet regulations, or net neutrality policies, govern how information travels on the Internet. This includes the infrastructure and pathways that the Internet uses, such as telecommunication networks and data centers.
Regulating the Internet is an extremely complicated task. Because it’s global in nature, internet laws must be flexible enough to abide by laws of multiple jurisdictions. Internet law covers issues such as cybercrime, intellectual property theft, social media misuse, and data privacy breaches.
It also involves deciding how much to censor online content, such as sex, child pornography, and hate speech. Some governments, like China, prioritize censorship while others, such as the US, place more emphasis on freedom of speech. In addition, the architecture of the Internet itself may affect how internet laws are implemented and enforced.
The emergence of new technology also changes the landscape for internet regulation. For example, artificial intelligence and deepfake technology are areas where the need for regulation is growing.
Norms: In some cases, the informal rules of online communities fill in the gaps left by formal internet laws. For example, online forum moderators often use cultural norms to determine what types of comments are appropriate. In the same way, social movements or labor organizations can create or promote ethical behaviors among businesses.
Despite the complexity of the issue, many people believe that internet regulation is unnecessary. After all, the Internet developed amazingly well in its absence of net neutrality regulations, and most of the largest online companies (e.g., Google, Facebook) started and grew without them.
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