FCC Reinstates Net Neutrality In A Blow To Internet Service Providers

Jill Goldsmith and Ted Johnson
·2 min read

Major internet providers once again will have to abide by a set of robust rules of the road, prohibiting them from blocking or throttling traffic, as the FCC today reinstated net neutrality regulations.

The commission voted 3-2 along party lines to adopt the rules, which broadly prohibit Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and other providers from favoring some types of internet traffic over others.

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The latest net neutrality rules resemble those adopted in 2015, when the FCC voted to reclassify internet service like a common carrier, or the same regulatory designation given to phone service. The commission, with a majority of Democratic members, sought reclassification as a way to give the FCC the regulatory authority to establish significant net neutrality rules.

But less than three years later, after Donald Trump became president, a Republican-controlled FCC reversed net neutrality, to protest online and outside the FCC offices.

Opponents of net neutrality argue that even without such regulation, the great fears that the internet would devolve into a tiered system of fast lanes has not materialized.

Supporters, though, note that a bevy of new state regulations has tempered the conduct of major internet providers.

Congress has been unable to pass legislation that would codify net neutrality, even though there have been numerous attempts over the past 15 years to reach a legislative compromise.

“Four years ago the pandemic changed life as we know it.  We were told to stay home, hunker down, and live online, said FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, who headed the push to reinstate the rules. “So much of work, school, and healthcare migrated to the internet.  If we wanted to engage with the world, we needed to do it all through a broadband connection,” she said at the hearing.

“It became clear that no matter who you are or where you live, you need broadband to have a fair shot at digital age success. It went from nice-to-have to need-to-have for everyone, everywhere.  Broadband is now an essential service. Essential services—the ones we count on in every aspect of modern life—have some basic oversight.”

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