US Revives Net Neutrality to Establish Authority Over Internet

Todd Shields, Bloomberg News

The Federal Communications Commission’s Democratic majority adopted rules that bar broadband providers from interfering with web traffic.

, Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- US regulators reinstated net neutrality rules that aim to ensure everything on the internet is equally accessible, reclaiming authority over broadband service and setting the stage for legal challenges.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Democratic majority adopted rules that bar broadband providers from interfering with web traffic. Their vote revives regulations that were gutted in 2017 by FCC Republicans.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel led the 3-to-2 vote to finalize rules she announced in September, kicking off a renewed fight.

The regulations adopted Thursday bar cable and phone providers such as Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. from blocking or slowing information flowing over the internet, or to sites that compete with them including Google and Netflix Inc. They also forbid telecom companies from granting preferential treatment in the form of “fast lanes” — for example, allowing a business partner’s website to load faster than others.

Read More: Why Trump’s FCC Tossed Obama’s Net Neutrality Rules: QuickTake

Broadband providers and Republicans opposed the new rules, saying the broadband market is working well, and that fresh regulations invite government interfere in internet operations. Both FCC Republicans voted against the proposal on Thursday.

Democrats have championed net neutrality since the presidency of Barack Obama. They won their chance to act with the arrival of the FCC majority that followed Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Rosenworcel’s move to revive the rules sparked fresh debate, although the issue drew less attention than it once did.

The regulations adopted Thursday classify broadband as an essential utility, similar to phone service. They take effect after being formally published in coming weeks.

There’s a “100%” chance of a court challenge, said Marc Martin, a Washington-based Perkins Coie telecom attorney.

“I expect the opponents of it to seek to have these rules overturned very quickly,” Martin said in an interview.