Net neutrality returns as the FCC votes to regulate internet providers

Net neutrality returns as the FCC votes to regulate internet providers

The US government on Thursday banned Internet service providers (ISPs) from interfering with the speeds their customers receive when browsing the web and downloading files, reinstating strict rules scrapped during the Trump administration and setting the stage for a major legal battle with the broadband industry.

Net neutrality rules adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission prohibit providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from selectively speeding up, slowing down or blocking users’ internet traffic. It largely mirrors the rules previously passed by the FCC in 2015 and rescinded in 2017.

The latest rules show how, with a 3-2 Democratic majority, the FCC is moving to reassert its authority over industries that power the modern digital economy, touching everything from education to health care and enabling advanced technologies like artificial intelligence. With Thursday’s party-line vote, the FCC redefined internet service as similar to old-fashioned phone lines, a sweeping move that comes with greater regulatory power over the broadband industry. And the FCC says it will act to override state or local policies that conflict with federal net neutrality rules.

Top FCC officials say restoring net neutrality rules, and reclassifying ISPs under Title II of the agency’s congressional charter, would give the FCC clearer authority to adopt future rules governing everything from public safety to national security.

Some of the issues the FCC will be empowered to address after the changes include spam robot texts, internet harassment, digital privacy and expanding high-speed internet access, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said when she first announced the proposal in September.

On Thursday, Rosenworcel added that the vote would also prevent internet providers from selling Americans’ personal data or sharing it with tech companies to train artificial intelligence models.

“The action we’re taking here is good for consumers, public safety, national security and network investment,” Rosenworcel said before the vote.

The vote marks the latest twist in a years-long battle between regulators on the one hand, who say consumer protections are needed to ensure all websites are treated equally, and ISPs on the other who portray the rules as heavy-handed government interference.

For years, consumer advocates have said that without net neutrality rules, ISPs would be free to charge websites and users extra fees — the equivalent of toll lanes for the internet — to get some websites delivered faster than others. On a societal scale, that could give ISPs enormous power to shape what users can see and access on the internet, consumer groups say, and strengthen their dominance in an uncompetitive market.

“Broadband is a telecommunications service and should be regulated,” said Justin Brookman, director of technology policy at Consumer Reports. “Title II authority will ensure that broadband providers are properly overseen by the FCC as all telecommunications services should be. Whether it’s throttling content, junk or hidden fees, arbitrary pricing, misleading advertising or unreliable service, broadband providers have proven over the years that without proper oversight, they won’t hesitate to use their power to increase profits at the expense of consumers.”

The broadband industry argues there is no risk of that happening because consumers will revolt. The ISP added that during the Trump and Biden administrations when net neutrality rules were not in effect, providers did not engage in that type of content-based network manipulation. They also claim that the rules could prevent them from building high-speed networks, although some academic research shows little support for that claim.

“These 400-plus pages of endless regulations are proof positive that the old orthodoxy is dead,” said Jonathan Spalter, CEO of USTelecom, a trade association representing internet providers. “This is not an issue for broadband users, who have enjoyed an open internet for decades. Instead of rejecting this dangerous regulatory land grab, policymakers should keep an eye on the real-world prize of building opportunities for everyone in an interconnected world.”

US policy for network providers has changed several times over the past decade with each change in administration in Washington.

Republican commissioners at the FCC blasted Thursday’s vote, accusing its Democratic leadership of touching on “third-party communications policy.”

“The Internet in America has thrived in the absence of 1930s command-and-control regulations by the government,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said, describing the new rules as a coup. “The FCC has identified no gaps in national security,” he added, that the agency’s move will help fill.

Industry groups spread widely plans to challenge the rules in court, in a significant new test of the federal government’s power.

In past legal battles over net neutrality, courts have deferred to the FCC, ruling that it has wide latitude to regulate ISPs as it sees fit using powers derived from the agency’s congressional charter, the Communications Act of 1934.

But the court’s longstanding deference to expert agencies appears increasingly in doubt as the conservative-leaning Supreme Court has struck an increasingly skeptical tone about the reach of federal executive authority.

As a result, the outcome of legal challenges to the FCC’s net neutrality rules may have far-reaching implications for other US regulatory bodies, not just the FCC.