As expected, the FCC today voted to move ahead with a plan that would dismantle net neutrality rules put in place by the previous administration.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his fellow Republican Commissioner Mike O'Rielly voted in favor of the proposal, while the lone Democrat on the commission at the moment, Mignon Clyburn, voted against it. The proposal will now be open for public comment; a final vote is expected later this year.

In a lengthy, impassioned speech during the FCC's open meeting today, Clyburn shared stories about those whose lives had been positively impacted by the internet, from a homeless man with mental health issues who was able to communicate with his doctor via Skype to a stay-at-home mom who built a business from a blog she started on a whim.

"We can argue about semantics...but broadband is a necessity in the 21st century and access to it allows the most vulnerable among us" to become or remain a part of society, she said.

The order approved today, Clyburn argued, should be called the "destroying internet freedom" order. "If ratified, it would deeply damage the ability of the FCC to be a champion of consumers."

The GOP commissioners argue that the internet has flourished just fine without regulation. Chairman Pai has repeatedly insisted that broadband investment has declined since the rules went into effect two years ago, but Commissioner Clyburn is not convinced. She accused him of cherry-picking stats and suggested that "it's inappropriate to use investment as a policy objective."

"I have yet to see a credible analysis that suggests broadband provider capital expenditures have declined as a result of our 2015 open internet order...but that does not keep those dead set on dismantling [it from] repeating the same tired, unproven talking points," she said.

In his statement, Commissioner O'Rielly argued that the proposal approved today asks the public for their input on the FCC's approach and suggested that the final version will be one that "fully and fairly responds to substantive arguments." During a recent call on the net neutrality order, however, senior FCC officials were not particularly confident the public comment period will change the order substantially.

The rules approved today would reverse a 2015 decision to reclassify broadband as a telecom service rather than an information service, or "Title II" in D.C. speak for its placement in the Communications Act. Title II was intended to give the FCC more legal standing to regulate broadband providers after previous net neutrality rules were struck down by the courts. Thus far, that strategy has worked, but with Republicans now at the helm of the FCC, Title II is not long for this world.

Further Reading

Security Reviews