WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Communications Commission voted to revive the net neutrality rules, which were introduced in 2015 during the Obama administration and later repealed under former President Donald Trump in 2017.
Net neutrality rules require broadband providers to treat all internet traffic equally, blocking them from providing speedy access to only certain websites in return for extra commission.
'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,' FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said at the meeting. 'This is good for consumers, good for public safety and good for national security.'
The decision was made after a 3-2 vote split, with Democratic commissioners in favor, whereas Republicans opposed the proposal.
'Today's order is not about net neutrality,' Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr argued that the FCC. 'When we abandoned Title II in 2017, proponents of greater government control flooded the zone with apocalyptic rhetoric. Media outlets and politicians alike mindlessly parroted their claims. They predicted the end of the internet as we know it and that you'll get the internet one word at a time. Consumers would have to pay for each website they wanted to reach.'
'None of that happened,' he added. 'Americans were subjected to one of the greatest hoaxes in regulatory history.'
'Since 2017, we've learned that the real abusers of gatekeeper power were not ISPs operating at the physical layer but Big Tech companies at the applications layer,' Carr continued. 'Perversely, today's order makes Big Tech behemoths even stronger than before.'
Meanwhile, the reintroduction of net neutrality was equally opposed by telecommunications industry, who claimed that the revival is a perfect example of unnecessary government interference in business decisions.
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