Leftists Still Trying to Bring Back “Net Neutrality”

FreedomWorks Foundation’s Regulatory Action Center (RAC) is driving comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging them to stay the course with Chairman Ajit Pai’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order. You can make your voice heard HERE.

In October, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld the FCC’s repeal of Title II internet regulations, more commonly known as “net neutrality.” The Court included some stipulations as to how the FCC must act in light of the new dynamic. To better inform their course of action, the FCC has opened up a public comment period to determine how best to adhere to the Court’s ruling.

Sadly, leftist activists have taken this as an opportunity to try and bring back the arduous Title II regulations. Spurred on by Democratic Commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, the left-wing is now trying to use a court decision that upheld the Restoring Internet Freedom Order to abolish it. This is how untethered from reality the political left has become on this issue.

However, this isn’t new for them. Chairman Pai received death threats upon his announcement of the repeal of net neutrality. Politicians and interest groups claimed this would be the end of the internet as we knew it, and famously said that webpages would load “one word at a time.” None of their zeal had any truth to it.

Not only did the doomsday proclamations not come to pass, but the opposite occurred. Increased investment and innovation have led to improved connectivity and speeds for public safety agencies, just as they have for mass-market consumers and business customers.

In fact, during this coronavirus outbreak, we are seeing precisely why de-regulatory measures like the Restoring Internet Freedom Order are so necessary. The re-implementation of net neutrality would bar data providers from prioritizing certain content over others. This would prevent companies like AT&T from making sure that health service websites stayed up and running in the event that bandwidth gets overrun. With net neutrality in place, they wouldn’t have that option.

Even outside of a crisis, one has to wonder what incentive a data provider or internet service provider (ISP) would have to discriminate when it comes to content. The short answer is that there is none. They have every incentive to promote public safety and fairness online, lest they lose business. This latest leftist incursion isn’t about fairness. It’s about keeping the internet more firmly under government control and limiting free market innovation.

After net neutrality was repealed, investment in broadband rose for the first time in years. Companies swiftly announced they were giving raises and bonuses to their workers because of the economic windfall. This seemingly simple de-regulatory action had a ripple effect across the economy and created more prosperity and potential for more innovative services in the near future.

This is what we risk losing if we return to the era of net neutrality. The left is hoping they can use this under-the-radar request for information during a pandemic to drive action while no one is watching. Thankfully, they have already overplayed their hand once on this issue and are poised to do it again.

If you want to make sure this farce isn’t successful and we keep the economic gains ushered in by Chairman Pai and President Trump, make your voice heard HERE before the leftists overwhelm the docket.

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