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Four internet service providers that support a Trump administration plan to eliminate net neutrality rules have outspent online giants such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google by a 3-to-1 margin.

Lawmakers Considering Net Neutrality Repeal Got Three Times More Donations From ISPs

[Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Comcast]

BY Frank Bass3 minute read

MapLight is a nonprofit organization that reveals the influence of money in politics.

Four major internet service providers that support a Trump administration plan to eliminate net neutrality rules have outspent online giants such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google by a 3-to-1 margin when it comes to contributing money to members of a key House panel, according to a MapLight analysis.

The companies–Comcast Corp., AT&T, Verizon, and Charter Communications–have contributed $1.9 million to the 55 members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee since 2015. More than $1.2 million has gone to Republican lawmakers, who have scheduled a Sept. 7 hearing to consider legislative options for repealing Obama-era regulations that require internet companies to treat all content equally.

The issue also continues to simmer at regulatory agencies. The Federal Communications Commission announced last week that it will give Americans more time to weigh in on a regulatory proposal that would essentially eliminate net neutrality. The comment period, originally set to expire Wednesday, was extended to Aug. 30 after drawing more than 20 million responses.

The Trump administration’s push to eliminate net neutrality rules marks the second major policy shift with the potential to significantly erode online consumer rights. President Donald Trump signed legislation in April allowing internet providers to sell customers’ private browser histories, despite a March HuffPost/YouGov poll showing that 83% of adults considered it to be a bad idea.

Support for rolling back net neutrality rules isn’t much more popular. Sixty percent of registered voters said in a Morning Consult/Politico poll that the FCC shouldn’t allow internet providers to “block, throttle, or prioritize certain content on the internet.” The FCC proposal is generally favored by large internet service providers and opposed by major content companies such as Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon, and Netflix. Internet content providers worry that phone and cable internet providers could discriminate against them by charging extra for their services or slowing speeds to their websites.

First-Time Testimony?

The Sept. 7 hearing is expected to draw even more attention to the net neutrality issue since it’s possible that it will mark the first time that the chief executives of Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Netflix testify before Congress. Even though the four content providers have more than twice the combined market capitalization of Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and Charter, they’ve only spent about $570,000 wooing panel members since the beginning of 2015.

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