What does net neutrality mean for Hispanics?

An op-ed in last week’s Denver Post poses a question I never thought to ask and gives an answer I don’t much care for: What does net neutrality mean for Hispanics?

According to Gus West, the article’s author, net neutrality would deprive Hispanics of internet access. Passage of H.R. 5353, a net neutrality measure would

“raise costs for broadband network providers, drive up consumer rates, stymie expansion among economically distressed and ethnic minority communities and depress job creation when the country most needs to boost employment opportunities.”

Clearly, West doesn’t understand net neutrality. This is a measure that would stop the major telecoms from gouging customers and content providers, which would only increase access for low income individuals. The “ironically named Net Neutrality concept,” as he calls it, isn’t so ironic at all. When the net is neutral all people are given equal access, rather than just those who can afford to pay more for it– a point that would only benefit “economically distressed and ethnic minority communities.”