Published on: August 2, 2024
The US Appeals Court blocked the US Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) bid to reinstate net neutrality laws.
The laws prevent unequal data speeds and internet access from broadband companies, which protects the consumer from unethical tactics like data throttling from internet providers. They would also stop companies from promoting unequal deals for favored users.
“The final rule implicates a major question, and the commission has failed to satisfy the high bar for imposing such regulations,” reads a letter explaining the court’s decisions. “Net neutrality is likely a major question requiring clear congressional authorization.”
The courts also blocked oral arguments that were already scheduled for later this year.
Net neutrality laws were first created during the Obama presidency in 2015. However, they were rescinded by the Trump administration, which claimed that the laws were unnecessary and blocked innovation by hurting investment in the telecommunications industry.
During his campaign, President Joe Biden promised to bring the laws back. This led to him pushing the FCC in 2021 to establish FCC oversight. The push to reinstate net neutrality laws culminated in the FCC’s attempt to reinstate net neutrality before the 2024 election. Earlier this year, they took an internal vote and moved to bring it to the courts.
The decision to block both the laws from being reinstated and the oral hearings is seen as a blow to the Biden administration’s effectiveness by many US voters.
“The American public wants an internet that is fast, open, and fair. Today’s decision by the Sixth Circuit is a setback but we will not give up the fight for net neutrality.” said chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel.
Critics of the FCC’s actions include Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, who wrote that the organization’s flip-flopping on net neutrality hurts its chances of ever passing it.
“An agency’s power to persuade turns on the thoroughness of its reasoning, its technical expertise, and its ‘consistency with earlier and later pronouncements,” he said.