An increasing number of governments are proposing policies to force big Internet-based platforms to pay for telecom infrastructure costs. Or they want to compensate media organizations for making news available on their platforms. They argue that big Internet platforms ‘free-ride’ on the Internet, and should pay to be able to use the Internet’s infrastructure. But these proposals threaten the decentralized nature of the Internet either by fundamentally impacting the way that networks interconnect with one another or by centralizing the management of Internet functions and content.
In an attempt to regulate Internet-based businesses, such proposals will critically undermine the Internet’s infrastructure, and have cascading effects on people, businesses, global trade and supply chains, and the seamlessness and resilience of the Internet.