5 things to know about the return of net neutrality rules

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday voted to reinstate Obama-era net neutrality rules.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is net neutrality?

Net neutrality refers to the principle that Internet service providers should treat all information that passes through their networks equally.

Under the FCC’s proposed rules, providers would be prohibited from blocking or restricting Internet traffic to some websites or speeding up access to other websites for an additional fee.

Why is the FCC voting on net neutrality again?

Net neutrality rules were first approved by the FCC in 2015 under former President Barack Obama, but were repealed by the commission in 2017 under the Trump administration.

Last October, the FCC voted to move forward with the process of restoring net neutrality rules after securing a Democratic majority following a two-year hold on previous nominees. The vote was 3-2 along party lines.

“It’s like déjà vu,” Christopher Niebuhr, senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, told The Hill. “This is really, in a way, a reversion to the Obama era. It’s a very similar rule, a very similar argument.”

What is the debate about net neutrality?

Net neutrality advocates like Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel argue that net neutrality is necessary to ensure a fair and open internet.

“[The pandemic] “We have made it clear that broadband is no longer just a nice-to-have,” Rosenworcel said in September. “It’s a necessity for everyone, everywhere. It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity. It’s an essential infrastructure for modern life.”

“Without that, no one has a chance of succeeding in the 21st century,” she continued. “We need broadband. We need it to reach 100 percent of us, and we need it to be fast, open and fair.”

The FCC chairman also argued that net neutrality rules would give the agency greater oversight of broadband companies, address outages and national security concerns, and strengthen consumer protections.

Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr, who opposes efforts to restore net neutrality, reflects the other side of the debate. He and other critics have argued that net neutrality rules would expand government control over the Internet to solve a problem that has not previously been particularly prevalent.

“In 2017, when my Republican FCC colleagues and I overturned the Obama administration’s failed two-year experiment in government control of the internet, Title II proponents called it “the end of the internet as we know it.” “You will get the end of the Internet, one word at a time,” Kerr said in a statement earlier this month.

But, he added, “none of the apocalyptic prophecies came true.”

How has the discussion changed since 2015?

While the net neutrality debate is much the same as it was in 2015, “there are some specific differences in terms of the context of new technologies and what’s happening in 2024,” Niebuhr said.

The advent of 5G technology and network slicing is creating new wrinkles in the net neutrality debate. Network slicing allows you to create multiple virtualized subnetworks on the same physical network.

Mobile phone carriers argue that network slicing should not fall under net neutrality rules, while opponents say it allows for the kind of prioritization that net neutrality wants to avoid.

The FCC ultimately decided not to consider this issue in its updated proposal, given the “nascent nature” of the technology.

What happens next?

This move could potentially lead to another round of lawsuits from industry groups, similar to what happened in 2015.

The Obama administration had some success in court, but two former attorneys general argued in a legal analysis funded by two industry groups last September that reinstatement of net neutrality rules would be invalidated by the Supreme Court. He warned that it would be a “wasted effort” because the government would be subject to

Former Obama administration attorneys general Donald B. Verrilli Jr. and Ian Heath Gershengorn said the FCC’s possible decision to reinstate net neutrality rules could be argued before the Supreme Court under the critical inquiry doctrine. They argued that it would likely be taken up and that it would be difficult for the FCC to demonstrate its decision. “Clear parliamentary approval” for the move.

Niebuhr similarly noted that the high court has taken a “more skeptical view of deference to government agencies” in recent years, with rulings on agency powers in several high-profile cases this quarter that have weighed on net neutrality. It was noted that this could affect potential decisions regarding

However, he added that elections scheduled for November are also likely to affect the future of net neutrality rules.

“Of course, a lot of it is election-related,” Niebuhr said. “If Donald Trump wins re-election, he will nominate an FCC commissioner who can and will overturn this rule, very similar to last time.”

Updated at 12:16pm EDT