Net neutrality could be making a comeback soon.
On Tuesday Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), announced plans to reinstate the policies, which prevent internet providers from blocking or slowing websites, on Tuesday.
That could set up a new battle in Washington, D.C., in the months to come.
Rosenworcel’s comments, made at the National Press Club, come on the heels of Democrats taking a majority control of the five-member panel (which has been split 2-2 since the beginning of the Biden administration). Anna Gomez, a Democrat, was sworn in as a commissioner Monday and Rosenworcel became chairwoman.
Rosenworcel is expected to formally propose reestablishing the standards at the FCC’s October 19 public meeting.
A brief history of net neutrality
Net neutrality, on a federal level, began in 2015, when the FCC adopted rules classifying ISPs as Title II under the Communications Act of 1934. That, effectively, meant providers were not allowed to use their power to discriminate against platforms, including blocking content or throttling speeds to competing sites.
The policy has been largely dead for five years, though. Former FCC chair Ajit Pai reversed the Obama-era policies in 2018, a move which was supported by telecom providers such as Comcast and Verizon, but opposed by large tech companies, including Google and Facebook. (Several major websites, including Reddit and Pornhub, protested the action as well.) Some states, including California, Washington, and Oregon, worked to enact their own net neutrality laws once the FCC ended the policy.
