FCC Votes to Restore Net Neutrality Laws Undone Under Trump
Summary from the AllSides News Team
This week, the Federal Communications Commission voted to restore net neutrality, a set of policies classifying the internet as a public utility.
Details: Net neutrality prevents internet service providers from prioritizing certain web traffic and creating “fast lanes” that increase service speed for select websites. These policies were championed by the Obama administration, undone under the Trump administration, and are now set to be put back in place under the Biden administration. Outlets predicted service providers would challenge the rule change in court.
Key Quotes: In a statement, the FCC said it voted to “restore a national standard to ensure the internet is fast, open, and fair,” adding, “Through its actions today, the Commission creates a national standard by which it can ensure that broadband internet service is treated as an essential service.” Internet service providers “will again be prohibited from blocking, throttling, or engaging in paid prioritization of lawful content.”
How the Media Covered It: The Wall Street Journal (Center bias) reported that the rules changes in recent years “haven’t radically changed how the internet is delivered to consumers or how much they pay for it.” USA Today (Lean Left bias) reported that the FCC received “near-universal praise” for the vote to restore net neutrality. Fox Business (Lean Right bias) published an article just before the vote, warning that reinstating net neutrality “could cause a slowdown in the pace of internet speed increases and price improvements seen in the years since net neutrality's repeal.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Everyone is celebrating the net neutrality victory, but what the heck is it?The Federal Communications Commission received near-universal praise after it voted to repeal rules that did away with net neutrality.
Net neutrality refers to the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) offer all consumers equal and fair access to legal online content and applications.
That means that ISPs can’t favor some consumers, content or apps over others. It is intended to stop practices such as your ISP slowing down your access to your favorite video streaming app to make their cable packages appear more appealing.
Net neutrality also prohibits ISPs from charging for...
From the Center
The FCC Restores Net Neutrality. What It Means for the InternetNet neutrality, a set of policies designed to prevent internet-service providers from playing favorites among the websites they carry, is coming back.
In a vote Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission classified internet service as a public utility. The definition is part of a new framework the FCC will use to regulate broadband networks.
For years, internet-service providers have sparred with regulators and activists over the rules for offering internet access to consumers and businesses. Net-neutrality provisions introduced during the Obama administration were scrapped during the Trump presidency. The shifting rules...
From the Right
FCC reinstating net neutrality could slow internet gains: reportThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing to vote Thursday on reinstating net neutrality regulations for the internet, which a new report warns could cause a slowdown in the pace of internet speed increases and price improvements seen in the years since net neutrality's repeal.
The FCC, which currently has a majority of Democrat appointees under the Biden administration, is planning to bring back net neutrality rules that allow the agency to regulate broadband internet access as a telecommunications service. That would return the FCC's framework for regulating the internet...
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