Just two years after protecting the free and open exchange of information on the internet, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now reopened the debate. FCC Chairman Pai has started the process to remove these protections. In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again!”
Allowing internet providers to manipulate or sell off faster access to certain content in order to make a profit is toxic to the principles of innovation and independent thought and would end the internet as we know it. That is why, after a decade of debate and public input, the FCC finally adopted the Open Internet Order in 2015. These rules provide crucial protections for a “neutral” internet, allowing for the free exchange of ideas instead of a bifurcated internet that can be bought and controlled by the highest bidder. Internet providers are in a position of immense power when it comes to what users see and how they access it. Net neutrality provisions, like those under the Open Internet Order, prohibit internet providers from restricting access to legal content by blocking, throttling speeds at which content is available, or charging for prioritization. These are essential consumer protections critical to the free exchange of ideas.
While Chairman Pai continues to claim to support a free and open internet, he’s offered no viable plan to ensure consumer protections going forward. He is using legalese to hide the fact that his newly proposed rules will strip consumers of protections for the benefit of special interests. Our current protections maintain our freedom to access the internet traffic without influence or control from those who “own” the bandwidth that collectively forms the internet. He and like-minded individuals often explain that the internet was just fine for decades before the 2015 Open Internet Order was implemented. What they don’t say is that during those decades, technology evolved exponentially as has every day reliance on the internet. Think about it -- twenty-five years ago, modems were dial up and most homes did not have a computer. Now, people have multiple devices, and the average smart phone is 1,300 times more powerful than early personal computers. We use our devices to access the internet from anywhere. We rely on our access for everything -- banking, research, news, shopping, navigating, to name a few. Net neutrality rules are needed to prevent a problem from arising that would destroy the internet as we know it, and after the fact it would be too late.
Supporters of rolling back net neutrality rules cherry-pick statistics to “prove” that somehow the rules impede on innovation and broadband investment. That is not true. Full analysis actually reveals stable or growing investment in broadband infrastructure following the adoption of the 2015 Open Internet Order.
Already, the FCC has received over a million comments and when John Oliver brought the issue to the public’s attention, in a straightforward, easy to understand way, the FCC website could not keep up with demand and crashed. The press has also brought to light a more sinister problem with the FCC website: stolen personal information was used by an unknown entity to post over 440,000 fake comments supporting repeal of the net neutrality protections in the name of unwitting citizens. I urge Chairman Pai to address this issue, repair and protect the integrity of the FCC rulemaking process immediately, and protect the public’s voice in the process.
Since the FCC has decided to move forward to reconsider net neutrality, I expect history to repeat itself. Now that the public comment period is open, the FCC site will be flooded with millions more public comments supporting consumer protections and net neutrality, just like it was in 2014. I urge the Chairman and the FCC to keep in place the Open Internet Order, support an open and free internet, and stand with consumers, not special interests.