Violating #NetNeutrality is violating queer rights

We all think we have greater problems than a free net, and it is true. A large part of our Queer community exists offline, but for those of us who do live here and offline, #NetNeutrality matters. It matters for those who live outside the net too, but perhaps the discourse hasn’t reached them yet. I don’t know.

Below is my tweet series and my thoughts on why Net Neutrality is a basic human right.

I am a bit late to the #NetNeutrality support party, but seriously, does that even need to be said? I am here today, alive and kind of sane

because of the Internet and the glorious freedom it offers, and the depth of its content and the complexity of friendships it fosters

What #NetNeutrality means to me is the ability to continue finding and supporting my gender expression. And choking it via any means is bad

I use my phone these days exclusive in my female identity. I would be very afraid if mobile service providers snoop/read all the stuff I do

the things I say there via various apps, the services I use… they all are important for me to live my life in a certain way.

And putting a price on it, over and above what I already pay, will push me deeper into my already screwed up mental health.

I don’t know about you, but #NetNeutrality could mean all the difference between my life and my death, or at least, a poorer, inferior life

So on that count at least for me, #NetNeutrality is a basic right I deserve as a citizen of this country.

— Nadika Nadja (@NadjaNadika)

One of the biggest support systems I had, when I was 16-17 and unsure of my gender and deeply conflicted about it, was the Internet. From finding chat rooms for transgender people on Yahoo, to looking up WPATH standards of care, to searching about transitioning and related subjects, to finding trans people in porn (a great way to validate your own choices, and to give you options), to talking to other people who are perhaps in similar circumstances. The Internet was just what I needed.

The Internet allowed me to have multiple identities, each of them nuanced and varied from my real life identity.

All this existed because of the basic assumption – naive, yes, but valid still – that the internet was free, was democratic, and was largely anarchist and existed without too many interventions by the powers of the state.

This assumption led me to behave in ways that liberated me and offered me a lot of space to vent out frustrations. It was therapeutic.

With growing mobile internet capabilities, and with the amount of apps that allowed one expression and freedom, I was able to expand on it further.

For the last two years, my phone has led dual lives. Two of my strongest identities – one male and one female – have been enabled on my phone. From Whatsapp to Gmail, from Tumblr to facebook, tinder and OkCupid, and a lot more apps and services have allowed me to carry on living my female life inside an office where gender roles are rather strictly enforced, more out of tradition and fear than by policy, but nonetheless.

The apps and services I use on my phone, and the 3G/2G internet I pay for, have given me a lot of stability through rough times. They have allowed me to stay in touch with allies and friends, and even briefly helped me find romance.

These things – these soft ways of expressing gender – are what have kept me out of depression this last couple of years. Friends who constantly check up and help me distract myself when I need that distraction, messages from other trans and gender queer people who know that the daily routine is the most sapping, the most draining when you are not presenting as the gender you want to be, all these have supplemented my counselling/therapy sessions, and in many cases is the best kind of therapy I could ask for.

Again, all this is because, naively, yes, I assumed and believe that these interactions are free from snooping, free from censor and control.

I don’t have to pay extra for these interactions.

I have a prepaid mobile connection. I top up talktime once a month, and pay for a substantial 3G pack which, on the face of it, is unlimited and free from further restrictions and conditions on usage.

But under a system where Net Neutrality is not supported and service providers limit usage or exercise control over what services/apps can be used, all my carefully constructed support network will crumble.

I will not only have to pay for my 3G pack, I will also have to pay more for the full potential of my app system and the conversations I have on those.

And given that each network will favour their own cronies of app providers/services, I will still not be able to use all of the apps I currently use, unless I somehow magically have every mobile network in the country on one phone.

Currently, I pay Rs. 650 for an unlimited 3G pack. To use, say, Tinder and Facebook Messenger and Skype, I might have to pay another 400-500 rupees. Contrast that to a therapy session at a mid-range psychiatrist. Rs. 800.

So I will have to prioritise where I spend my money. Therapy, or gender expression and support in a tough work environment.

I will have to find other ways of paying for therapy, all my apps and services, and continue to work and live as I currently do. That kind of prioritisation will hurt me quite a bit.

Spending more are current income levels, and not extracting the value for the money you do spend, is a recipe for stress and depression. Add the fact that your support network does not exist, you are going to face a lot of mental health issues.