The FCC voted 3-2 along partisan lines to reclassify broadband service as a Title II telecommunications service, restoring Net Neutrality.
The decision gives the FCC the authority to provide oversight over broadband service providers, giving the Commission essential tools to:
- Protect the Open Internet – Internet service providers will again be prohibited from blocking, throttling, or engaging in paid prioritization of lawful content, restoring the rules that were upheld by the D.C. Circuit in 2016.
- Safeguard National Security – The Commission will have the ability to revoke the authorizations of foreign-owned entities who pose a threat to national security to operate broadband networks in the U.S. The Commission has previously exercised this authority under section 214 of the Communications Act to revoke the operating authorities of four Chinese state-owned carriers to provide voice services in the U.S. Any provider without section 214 authorization for voice services must now also cease any fixed or mobile broadband service operations in the United States.
- Monitor Internet Service Outages
For the majority, FCC Chairwan Jessica Rosenworcel writes “I think in a modern digital economy we should have a national net neutrality policy and make clear the Nation’s expert on communications has the ability to act when it comes to broadband. This is good for consumers, good for public safety, and good for national security. And that is why we are taking this action today under Title II of the Communications Act.”
In dissent, FCC Commissioner Brenden Carr writes “The Internet in America has thrived in the absence of 1930s command and control regulation by the government. Indeed, bipartisan consensus emerged early on that the government should not regulate the Internet like Ma Bell’s copper line telephone monopoly.”