By Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call (TNS)
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned a Biden administration rule establishing so-called net neutrality for internet providers following years of litigation over efforts to regulate internet speeds for different content online.
The ruling likely ends a long-running effort by the Biden and Obama administrations to change regulation of internet providers — requiring them to provide all internet traffic at the same speed and not discriminate against certain sites or services. A similar rule was initially put in place by the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration, reversed by Donald Trump in his first term then reinstated by President Joe Biden. Now it faces an eleventh-hour courtroom loss combined with a second Trump administration likely to pull the rule entirely.
Thursday’s ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit held that internet service should be considered an “information service” — not a “telecommunications service,” which is treated as a common carrier — and that the FCC’s approach was “inconsistent with the plain language” of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Following the court loss, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel called on Congress to act on legislation to put net neutrality in federal law.
“Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair,” the statement said. “With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.”
However, that is unlikely during the incoming Trump administration. Trump has named Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who has opposed net neutrality rules, as his preferred chair of the agency.
When the agency reinstated the rules in the Biden administration, Carr criticized the “flip-flopping” by the agency. On Thursday, Carr praised the decision in a statement on the social media platform X: “While the work to unwind the Biden Admin’s regulatory overreach will continue, this is a good win.”
A group of telecommunications industry and internet provider groups, including USTelecom, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association and CTIA, praised the decision in a statement Thursday.
“Since the birth of the internet, bipartisan Administrations and policymakers have recognized the virtues of a light-touch approach to broadband regulation. Today’s ruling will cement the United States’s position as the world’s most advanced digital marketplace,” the statement said.
Numerous advocacy groups criticized the decision Thursday, including Evan Greer the director of Fight for the Future, who called it a “sad day for democracy” that “industry-friendly judges” struck down popular consumer protection rules.
“Millions of people from across the political spectrum were part of the movement that fought for and won strong net neutrality rules at the FCC because no one wants their cable or phone company to be able to scam them or control what they see and do online,” Greer’s statement said.
Greer argued that such efforts would continue to put pressure on lawmakers. “The path is long and windy,” he said. “But it is only a matter of time before net neutrality is the law of the land again.”
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