FCC: Net Neutrality Politics at Play Again

WASHINGTON—The politics over net neutrality are revitalized. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that she intends to reinstate net neutrality regulations. Rosenworcel announced this move after a telecommunications attorney and former U.S. State Department advisor, Anna Gomez, was confirmed and sworn into her new position as the fifth commissioner for the FCC. Gomez’s ascension ended a three-year struggle over who would take the open seat left behind by the former chair and Republican-backed FCC appointee Ajit Pai.  During his tenure as FCC chair, Pai delivered on former President Donald Trump’s push to repeal regulations implemented by his predecessor, Barack Obama. One such regulation was to end net neutrality at the behest of some of the largest internet service providers and telecoms. This led to pushback from a variety of digitally-native industries, including the online portion of the adult entertainment industry. The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) had much to say regarding the GOP-controlled FCC’s vote to repeal the rules in 2017.  “Our industry knows what happens when corporations are allowed to prioritize content, exclude it from those networks, or punish those that don’t comply,” the FSC argued.  Now, net neutrality is poised to come back. President Joe Biden promised to reinstate the rules that require internet service providers, like Verizon and Comcast, to provide equal bandwidth for data without discriminating or charging differently by the user, content, website, platform or application. This ensures that the internet remains open and a level playing field for users and content providers, especially adult entertainment websites. “The internet is too important to our society and economy not to have effective oversight,” reads an official fact sheet released by chair Rosenworcel’s office, which AVN reported. “However, in 2018, the FCC abdicated its authority over broadband and repealed net neutrality,” the fact sheet explains. Considering the sentiments, some observers believe that Rosenworcel has presented the net neutrality revival as a public safety issue. According to Broadband Breakfast, this proposal is a “public safety” crisis that arose from broadband deregulation during the Trump administration. Classifying broadband internet service as a regulated “common carrier” service under Title II of the federal Communications Act ensures a greater degree of equity, Rosenworcel argues. Critics of Rosenworcel and the push to reinstate net neutrality rules are concerned, though. A coalition of Republican senators expressed their opposition by telling the FCC that classifying broadband as common carrier services “grants the FCC expansive regulatory powers, which include the ability to: regulate rates and practices, compel companies to provide service, and declare a practice illegal if a majority of commissioners declare it ‘unjust or unreasonable.’ “The growth of the internet continues to be a great American success story,” the senators argue in their letter to Rosenworcel expressing their concerns. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, led the letter, featuring signatures from most members of the GOP Senate Caucus, including far-right members such as Sens. Josh Hawley, R-MO; Ted Cruz, R-TX; Tommy Tuberville, R-AL; and Mike Lee, R-UT.  “Broadband is not a luxury. It is an essential utility, and it is imperative that the FCC’s authority reflects the necessary nature of the internet in Americans’ lives today,” said Democratic Sens. Ed Markey, D-MA, and Ron Wyden, D-OR. Markey and Wyden are two of the more prominent U.S. lawmakers who have openly advocated for broadband net neutrality.  “We need net neutrality so that small businesses are not shoved into online slow lanes so that powerful social media companies cannot stifle competition, and so that users can always freely speak their minds on social media and advocate for the issues that are most important to them.”