Ahead of the Federal Communications Commission's expected vote Thursday to repeal net neutrality rules, the proposal has drawn considerable controversy.
Ahead of the Federal Communications Commission’s expected vote Thursday to repeal net neutrality rules, the proposal has drawn considerable controversy.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled the plan in November, sparking debate among free speech advocates, web companies and service providers about the future of the internet.
What is net neutrality?
The 2015 Obama-era net neutrality rules were designed to prevent internet service providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon from giving priority to certain websites, apps and online content. Under the regulations, service providers are barred from blocking, prioritizing or interfering with customers’ ability to access online content. Service providers are not allowed to slow down access to competitors’ content. The stated goal of the rules was to ensure that all web content and traffic is treated equally.
The regulations followed a 2008 FCC decision against Comcast, which had previously impeded customers from using certain file-sharing websites. After Verizon won a 2014 legal victory over the FCC’s increasing regulation of internet service providers, the FCC reclassified broadband internet access as a “telecommunications service.” That reclassification allowed the FCC to regulate service providers under the Communications Act of 1934, preserving net neutrality.
Many digital content producers and Democratic officials have supported net neutrality rules. Internet companies such as Google have been particularly outspoken in favor of keeping net neutrality.
What would happen without net neutrality?
Opponents of the proposed repeal argue that without net neutrality, service providers could block websites or online content from competitors. They could be allowed to charge new fees to content producers in exchange for preferential treatment. For example, a streaming video company could hypothetically pay a service provider an extra fee to allow internet customers to access its content more quickly, pushing others to a slower level of service. This could effectively allow service providers to create internet “fast lanes” and “slow lanes.”
Cell phone carriers could allow customers to stream video from a preferred app without using up data, putting competing apps at a disadvantage. The FCC began scrutinizing such arrangements late last year, but the chairman dropped the investigation in early 2017.
Many free speech advocates have also argued that service providers would be allowed to block or slow access to websites that voice opinions that run counter to their own.
Who opposes net neutrality?
Service providers including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have opposed net neutrality regulations. While opposition isn’t strictly partisan, many Republican officials have also argued for ending net neutrality, saying the current rules lead to too much government interference in free-market businesses. Pai, a former Verizon lawyer who was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the FCC, claims the 2015 regulations stifle private investment in improving internet infrastructure.
What happens next?
The FCC is scheduled to vote on the net neutrality repeal on Thursday, Dec. 14. Many observers expect the independent commission to approve the repeal on a 3-2 party-line vote.
Some Democratic members of Congress have suggested lawmakers could pass a legislative “fix” to preserve net neutrality in the event the FCC passes a repeal. But the outcome of any such legislative effort, which has emerged as a somewhat partisan issue, remains uncertain.