Imagine if you could launch a channel with your own shows: you could write your own scripts, get your friends to act, and show it to anyone in the world. Now imagine if everyone in the world could do the same. The only medium that allows this is the Internet. You don’t need an uplinking station or a downlinking license. You don’t need to pay a carriage fee to a cable operator for your channel to get an audience. You can start with just your phone and an Internet connection. The true potential for the Internet in India lies in the idea of a billion creators: whether it is building an application, shooting a video series, or creating an ecommerce marketplace that sells handicrafts from your district. This is possible because the Internet isn’t just a marketplace, with just sellers and buyers: it is also a global public square and a playground; a space that unites the world, and allows us to create for each other. This is what Net Neutrality is about: that telecom operators should not classify creators separately from consumers, and charge consumers differently for accessing different creators. Every consumer is also a creator. Imagine if a user had to pay heavy data charges to access your video series or news documentaries, but nothing to access Reliance's Jio Movies. The TRAI recognized this in its Net Neutrality ruling in February this year, where it said that discriminatory tariffs “create entry barriers and non-level playing field for these…
