Call now to find your best offers!FCC Votes Yes to Controversial New Net Neutrality Rules
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On Thursday, April 25, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve regulations for “net neutrality,” continuing a back-and-forth political battle between Democrats and Republicans. Net neutrality regulation was first implemented by the Obama administration in 2015 before being struck down in 2017 by the Trump administration.
Commissioners Vote Along Party Lines
This time around, the rules passed by a 3-2 vote from the commission, which split predictably along party lines with the Democrats voting for and the Republicans voting against.
The rules include stipulations that internet service providers may not block or throttle (slow down) internet speeds to privilege some corporations or individuals over other others.
Information or retail platforms such as Google and Amazon have long supported net neutrality rules. By ensuring that their platforms can’t be slowed down by providers who might provide faster speeds to their competitors, they protect their business. They are also trying to avoid being charged higher fees by providers for faster internet “lanes.”
New Rules Increase Internet Regulation
The new set of regulations for 2024 (titled “Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet”) has attracted criticism from both sides. Net neutrality advocates charged two weeks ago that the FCC’s new rules would leave loopholes for harmful conduct by internet providers. Free market capitalists argue that broadband regulation simply hurts growth.
The new regulations return broadband internet to the oversight of the FCC by classifying high-speed internet as a telecommunications service, not just an information service. As a telecommunications service, internet falls under some of the same types of rules as utility companies, because internet is a basic need for daily living.
The FCC can now demand more transparency from internet providers, especially in reporting outages. The agency can also seek more insight into whether ISPs have adequate cybersecurity protection.
High-Speed Internet: Necessity or Luxury?
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said before the commission’s vote, “In our post-pandemic world, we know that broadband is a necessity, not a luxury.”
In our post-pandemic world, we know that broadband is a necessity, not a luxury." —Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC Chair
The FCC stated that Thursday’s yes vote “allows the DCC to protect consumers, defend national security, and advance public safety.”
FCC Closes Loophole for Fast Lanes Pointed Out By Experts
In our previous coverage of this policy debate, we noted that net neutrality champions had discovered a problem with the new rules that weakens their effect on net neutrality.
In the original draft of the rules, ISPs were forbidden from slowing down internet in a preferential way, but not from speeding it up. The only guardrail was that the providers could not charge platforms and content providers to have a faster lane of traffic.
That left a huge loophole: internet service providers might still create fast lanes not in order to charge other corporations for faster access, but in order to charge consumers more. For example, let’s say an ISP created a specialized premium internet speed tier, such as a TikTok and Discord super-speed package. As long as the ISPs only charged consumers for this privilege, not TikTok or Discord, it would be legal.
The cumulative effect of a preferential speed package would be to give TikTok and Discord a huge advantage over other video and gaming platforms. Net neutrality expert Barbara van Schewick was one of the first to sound the alarm about this possibility.
After initially ignoring warnings, the FCC did clarify the language of the initial draft to ban preferential speeding up of content. FCC staff stated at the hearing that the rules language had been changed to prevent either slowing down or speeding up of content, though the amended text was not yet available.
Court challenges
Net Neutrality May Yet Face Challenges in Court or Congress
Republicans and ISP lobbyists have insisted that the rules will not hold up to a legal challenge. Republican FCC commissioner Brendan Carr insisted that the rules were “an unlawful power grab.”
National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) President Michael Powell stated after the vote, “The good news is that the FCC’s action will be overturned in court.”
The good news is that the FCC’s action will be overturned in court.” —Michael Powell, NCTA President
In 2016, however, similar rules were upheld in federal court.
A far greater threat to the new rules would be a Republican administration in 2025, as recent history has proven. Bloomberg Law has explained in detail the likely fate of the net neutrality rules should the political balance shift again to the Republican side.
Consumers will need to keep all these likelihoods in mind as they decide their own positions on net neutrality and vote accordingly.