Proposed FCC Rules Don’t Do Enough to Protect Net Neutrality

CONTACT: dcmedia@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission voted today to open a new rule for how Internet Service Providers treat the data they carry for public comment. The proposal follows a January decision by the D.C. Circuit Appeals Court that stuck down key provisions of the FCC’s existing net neutrality rules.

Gabe Rottman, legislative counsel and policy advisor with the American Civil Liberties Union, had this reaction to today’s vote and proposed rule:

“This proposed rule leaves the individual at the mercy of an increasingly concentrated broadband market, in which the big players will be able to act as gatekeepers for online speech, deciding what gets seen and when. Fortunately, the FCC left the door open to fix this problem by reclassifying broadband internet service as what it really is: a public utility, or in legal terms, a ‘common carrier,’ which we will continue to vigorously advocate for. This is a First Amendment issue because if broadband service providers are allowed to slow or block some content at will, they will be able to stifle the speech of internet users. The FCC must ensure that it has the tools necessary to prevent such blocking or discrimination against certain types of content.”

Further background on net neutrality and the first amendment is at:
aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/network-neutrality-where-things-stand