Opinion

Editorial: If FCC won’t regulate Internet, California should

A protester holds a sign that reads "Resist the FCC Text: INTERNET To: 52886" at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. The FCC voted to eliminate net-neutrality protections for the internet. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) less A protester holds a sign that reads "Resist the FCC Text: INTERNET To: 52886" at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. The FCC voted to eliminate net-neutrality ... more Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Editorial: If FCC won’t regulate Internet, California should 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Sacramento isn’t the ideal perch for regulating the Internet. Then again, neither is Boise, Idaho, or Lincoln, Neb.

Lawmakers in these state capitals and more are nevertheless working on their own rules for a network that knows no state or national boundaries. It’s an unfortunate necessity given the federal government’s abdication of its more appropriate role in regulating online access.

In December, the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission rescinded so-called net neutrality rules preventing cable companies, wireless carriers and other Internet service providers from favoring certain types of content over others. The companies will be allowed to start discriminating among different types of traffic starting Monday, when the repeal takes effect.

But efforts to fill the regulatory vacuum have already surfaced in more than half the states. One such measure, by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, survived its first committee vote in Sacramento Tuesday despite strenuous industry opposition.

Wiener’s bill has the distinction of going even further than the rules passed by the FCC under President Barack Obama, which prohibited AT&T, Comcast and others from privileging or penalizing online traffic to suit corporate interests. SB822 aims not only to prevent them from selectively speeding or slowing certain content, but also to limit their ability to boost certain traffic by other means — for example, by exempting it from customers’ data usage limits, a practice known as zero-rating.

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who would be empowered to bring actions against companies that violate the rules, endorsed the legislation this week. The bill also has the support of Tom Wheeler, the former FCC chairman who spearheaded the repealed federal protections, and advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The opposition has been led by trade groups such as the California Cable and Telecommunications Association, which asserted that “state-level policies regulating the Internet are preempted by federal regulations and are inappropriate for an inherently interstate service.”

That would be a persuasive argument if the relevant federal regulations had not been dismantled at the behest of the same corporate interests. The emerging patchwork of state regulations being lamented by the industry is a direct result of its successful lobbying to undo FCC rules that applied nationwide. With online abuse and manipulation coming under ever more scrutiny, the federal retreat looks even more unacceptable in retrospect.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.