On Thursday, the United States government prohibited internet service providers (ISPs) from interfering with the speeds their customers experience while surfing the web and downloading content, reinstating stringent regulations rolled back during the Trump administration and paving the way for a significant legal clash with the broadband industry.
The net neutrality rules endorsed Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) forbid providers such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon from selectively enhancing, reducing, or obstructing users’ internet traffic. They largely mirror regulations enacted by a previous FCC in 2015 and repealed in 2017.
These latest regulations demonstrate how, with a 3-2 Democratic majority, the FCC is asserting its control over an industry crucial to the contemporary digital economy, influencing everything from education to healthcare and facilitating cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence.
Through Thursday’s vote along party lines, the FCC redefined internet service as akin to traditional telephone lines, a broad measure that grants greater regulatory authority over the broadband sector. Moreover, the FCC declared its intent to supersede state or local policies conflicting with the federal net neutrality regulation.
Top FCC officials have argued that reinstating net neutrality rules and reclassifying ISPs under Title II of the agency’s congressional charter would furnish the FCC with clearer jurisdiction to implement future regulations governing various aspects from public safety to national security.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted that after the alteration, the FCC would be better equipped to tackle issues such as spam robotexts, internet blackouts, digital privacy, and the expansion of high-speed internet access.
Rosenworcel further stated that the vote would prohibit internet providers from monetizing Americans’ personal data or sharing it with tech firms to train AI algorithms.
"The action we take here is good for consumers, public safety, national security, and network investment," Rosenworcel asserted prior to the vote.
This vote represents the latest development in a protracted struggle between regulators advocating for consumer protections to ensure equal treatment of all websites and ISPs characterizing the rules as intrusive government intervention.
Consumer advocates have long warned that without net neutrality rules, ISPs could impose additional charges on websites and consumers — akin to toll lanes on the internet — to prioritize the delivery of some websites over others. At a societal level, this could grant ISPs considerable influence over what consumers can access online and reinforce their dominance in markets lacking competition.
