An overwhelming majority of information technology workers in the U.S. agree that any moves by the Donald Trump administration to repeal the Federal Communications Commission’s so-called net neutrality rules will damage the industry.

In fact, many believe that if the rules are overturned, it will lead to increased costs and slower upload and download speeds.

More than 80 percent of the 411 U.S.-based IT workers surveyed by information technology network tools provider Spiceworks Inc. said they support the current net neutrality rules, compared with just 11 percent who are against them. Net neutrality refers to the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, without favoring, blocking or slowing down particular products or websites.

Fears that the net neutrality rules might be repealed have come to a head after President Trump said he was hiring Ajit Pai to be the new chairman of the FCC. Pai is a staunch opponent of net neutrality laws, having previously stated that they hold back “investment, innovation and job creation.”

IT workers beg to differ. Spiceworks’ survey, published Jan. 25, found that 59 percent of respondents believe that a repeal of network neutrality rules would cause Internet costs to rise, while 47 percent said they believe their companies’ access to Internet services would be degraded.

Peter Tsai, an analyst at Spiceworks, said in a blog post that IT workers “care deeply about the subject, with one side arguing government regulation of the internet is unnecessary and counterproductive, while others fear potential deregulation of net neutrality could put companies at the mercy of ISPs.”

The big fear is that ISPs will start charging websites for higher-speed access, with those that refuse to cough given less priority than those that can pay.

“ISPs might choose to charge more for high-speed access to common data-intensive services like Netflix and throttle speeds for those who don’t pay the high-speed access fee,” Tsai wrote. “Or ISPs might pick favorites among companies they have partnerships with, while throttling their competitors’ services.”

Censorship is a big concern too, with more than eight out of 10 IT workers saying that ISPs might block access to certain types of content if the net neutrality rules are repealed. In addition, 83 percent said governments or corporations might take action to limit free speech without the rules in place.

Even so, a sizable portion of IT workers believe that the fears are being overblown. Nineteen percent said they believed there would be no negative impact on their companies if the rules are repealed.

Spiceworks said its survey represented companies of various sizes from industries including manufacturing, healthcare, nonprofits, education, government and finance.

Images courtesy of Spiceworks