Topic: Net Neutrality
Country: Sweden
Delegate Name: James Aidala
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Sweden position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Ever since the Internet’s invention in the 1960s and subsequent development and proliferation of devices that can make use of it, the Internet has become an extremely used tool for anything from information to data hosting to worldwide communication. 9,216,226 people in Sweden currently use Internet as of 2015. With this explosion of Internet use, the market has sufficed to fill the demand. However, with advancements in Internet use, such as voice calling or social networking, some companies have been wanting to prioritize traffic over others or charge for voice services. This issue has become known as Net Neutrality, debating whether companies have the right to prioritize certain traffic over others or if they should be mandated to be impartial.
Sweden has no specific laws mandating or forbidding net neutrality, though companies tend to be neutral due to the competitive nature of the market and social pressures. However, recent zero-rating deals have garnered little response from Swedish officials, including a recent major deal between major ISP Telia and Facebook. The deal is being investigated by the Swedish government, but other deals are left unchecked. In contrast, the majority party of the Swedish parliament and Government, the Social Democrats, are heavily in favor of competition and innovation in the market. In addition, the majority of the Swedish MEPs are of the Socialists and Democrats party, who are in favor of fair competition and small business growth and are in favor of consumer access to all of the Internet. Net neutrality allows for open competition and innovation as it enables smaller startups with pioneering ideologies to receive as fair a chance as major companies e.g. Facebook or Twitter.
The European Union, of which Sweden is a member, recently adopted a new set of regulations regarding net neutrality, enforcing that companies should not be able to artificially control speeds. In late August of this year, BEREC, the EU regulatory body of the Internet, tightened loopholes regarding fast-lanes and zero-rating deals. It is being praised as a major victory for net-neutrality advocates. In relation to Sweden, 63% of Swedes would vote to stay in the EU if given the chance to leave, according to a Novus poll, up from 32% in June. Also, in the following month of Brexit, confidence in the EU surged from 38% to 48%. In short, Sweden will be staying in the EU for a long time and its support is rising. Also, Sweden’s high dependence on imports and exports with EU member states (5 of 9 of its top import and export partners are EU members) are a driving motivation to stay. These factors combine to compel Sweden, in addition to domestic sentiment, to abide by and implement EU resolutions.
Conclusively, Sweden, recognizing the importance of fairness and competition on the Internet, not to be disturbed by corporate interest and monopoly, shall advocate, with all intents and purposes, to preserve and implement net neutrality across the UN.
Works Cited
"Digital Union | Socialists & Democrats." Digital Union | Socialists & Democrats. Socialists & Democrats, 2016. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
Gordon, Jonathon. "Now Sweden Stirs up the Net Neutrality Storm." DisruptiveViews. Pricing Data Plans, 13 May 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Münch, Merlin. "Do as the Swedes Do? Internet Policy and Regulation in Sweden – a Snapshot." Internet Policy Review. Alexander Von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, 10 May 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
"Näringspolitik Och Konkurrenskraft – Www.socialdemokraterna.se." Www.socialdemokraterna.se. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Samuels, Gabriel. "Swedish Support for EU Membership Surges following Brexit." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 14 July 2016. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
"Sweden Internet Usage, Population and Telecommunications Report." Sweden Internet Usage, Population and Telecommunications Report. Miniwatts Marketing Group, 6 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
"Sweden." OEC. Observatory of Economic Complexity, 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
Toor, Amar. "Europe's Net Neutrality Guidelines Seen as a Victory for the Open Web." The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., 30 Aug. 2016. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
"The World Factbook: SWEDEN." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
