Indian internet users' emails to TRAI cross the 1-million mark

Net neutrality simply means this: on the internet, all data -- whether it is a WhatsApp message or a YouTube video -- is equal. A service provider should not discriminate between different kinds either by blocking it or slowing it down.

If you went to SaveTheInternet.in and sent an email to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) voicing your support for net neutrality, take a bow -- the email count just crossed a million.

According to @BulletinBabu , a Twitter account set up by the volunteers who run SaveTheInternet.in, which has been tracking the number of emails sent to TRAI for almost two weeks, it took just 12 days to accomplish the #MillionMailMission.

A huge thank you to everyone who responded. The fight's not over yet. Let's #SaveTheInternet. #MillionMailMissionpic.twitter.com/lmjAnwHlFR

— Bulletin Babu (@bulletinbabu) April 23, 2015

In a quote to The Indian Express, Nikhil Pahwa, the editor of Medianama and a vocal advocate for net neutrality, said: "It is one million emails to TRAI minus any trolling or harassing, quite unprecedented for digital activism.'

The response was unprecedented. SaveTheInternet.in volunteers had expected about 15,000 emails to reach the TRAI. A popular video created by comedy group All India Bakchod that explained net neutrality simply to users was responsible for the groundswell.

Net neutrality simply means this: on the internet, all data -- whether it is a WhatsApp message or a YouTube video -- is equal. A service provider should not discriminate between different kinds either by blocking it or slowing it down.