By Montana Couser, Culture Contributing Writer
Posted 11:55 PM EST, Thurs., Nov. 17, 2016
Many students in the Howard University community were caught off guard when they heard the news about Netflix being banned from the Howard Wi-Fi network. For some students, they found out through trial and error when they tried to access their favorite shows and were denied entry to the website. Other students found out from their friends and were shocked, because now Netflix has not been available on-campus.
“The majority of the people on-campus use Netflix and this may be a reason why the internet connection is so poor. We decided to temporarily ban Netflix to see if the internet connection will move quicker,” said Malyke Brown, a Howard Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) staff member who explained why this conclusion has been made.
“It’s annoying and unnecessary, I should be able to do what I want. I pay for Netflix, they could have at least had the decency to make an announcement,” said, Salina Kamara, a junior public relations major.
“What am I supposed to do for entertainment. This is horrible. I feel like we need to protest because it’s unfair,” said, Kiara Burwell, a sophomore journalism major.
“I feel like it’s not cool. It’s what I do in my down time and now I can’t keep up with my shows,” said Kiana Kisino, a junior journalism major.
After hearing the responses from these students, one can assume that the rest of the Howard community feels the same. Many students took to Twitter to express their frustrations and they haven’t received much feedback from the ETS department.
There's been rumors of Netflix being blocked on the Howard University network. If you are being affected by the same, please Like this msg. https://t.co/a66z7pmf42
— The Hilltop (@TheHilltopHU) November 14, 2016
Howard need to Unblock Netflix or they getting this bill.
— Stuttering Prophet (@_callmestretch_) November 18, 2016
Im lost w/o netflix, yall gotta chill @HowardU
— Jewel (@okayyjewel) November 15, 2016
so what's your reason for blocking netflix @HowardU ?
— ASHLAI (@ashlaisabelle_) November 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/__ariizona/status/798054285950861312
Brown was not able to depict when Netflix would be accessible on the Howard Wi-Fi, but if students log into the Visitor Wi-Fi network, he said they will be able to access the site.
