Can VPNs Help Restore Net Neutrality?

October 2, 2022

We were afraid of the worst and the worst has happened. The Federal Communications Commission has repealed the net neutrality rules in spite of being repeatedly warned about the potentially detrimental consequences of such a decision by a variety of experts in the fields of security and technology. It has thus opened a Pandora’s Box of threats to user privacy and security, paid prioritization is almost certainly on its way, and users are left wondering what they can do to protect themselves and avoid the seemingly unavoidable throttling. The most logical solution seems to lie in VPN technology.

VPNs Net Neutrality

VPNs To The Rescue

When you are using a VPN service, your traffic is routed through VPN servers and your data is encrypted. That means that your ISP can know nothing about your online activity, it cannot find out which websites you are visiting, and the only information it can get is that you are connected to a VPN server. Without any knowledge about your activity, it cannot prevent you from accessing a site nor can it throttle your connection. As long as you choose a good VPN service, your ISP cannot touch you (click here to see our list of top VPN recommendations).

 frequently changing IPs

Some users have already expressed concern that ISPs may try to throttle all VPN traffic and thus win the game. What is important to know is that innumerable companies and big players use VPN services to protect their data, so ISPs would have to come up with something wildly innovative and incredibly wise in order to find a way to throttle all VPN traffic and not drive away their biggest clients at the same time. Besides, VPN services already have means to prevent this from happening, such as frequently changing IPs and making it virtually impossible for ISPs to keep track of all of their increasingly numerous servers.

No matter what the future holds, there is something we know for certain. For now, VPNs are our best shot at creating a semblance of net neutrality. If nothing, it is comforting to know we have mighty allies on our side.