After a federal appeals court ruling last year that upheld the Federal Communications Commission repeal of federal net neutrality regulations but at the same time challenged several major aspects of the rollback, the court required the FCC to once again solicit public comments. While the FCC’s Donald Trump-appointed chair Ajit Pai was forced to agree, he set a quick deadline of March 30 for the public feedback period.
But while pressure from activists and digital rights groups could not persuade Pai (pictured above) to budge from the early deadline, the coronavirus pandemic appears to have accomplished what they could not. In an order signed on Wednesday, Pai pushed the cutoff date for public comments from March 30 to April 20.
“Today’s extension of the period for public comment about net neutrality is welcome,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, one of two Democrats on the five-member FCC board, and an advocate of net neutrality. “However, when it comes to collecting public feedback on what the FCC’s net neutrality repeal means when it comes to public safety and low-income consumers, an even longer extension would have been appropriate. The American public cares about net neutrality and should have every opportunity to let Washington know how important it is for every part of our civic and commercial lives.”
The FCC first posted a notice for the new round of comments on February 19, but at the time, Rosenworcel criticized Pai for posting the call in the form of a “document that’s all legalese.” She took to Twitter to encourage supporters of net neutrality rules to post comments.
According to a report by The Daily Dot, “hundreds” of pro-net neutrality comments were quickly posted by internet users from around the country.
Under net neutrality, according to Quartz senior writer Ephrat Livni, “service providers can’t slow, block, or prioritize one type of data over another, meaning they can’t manipulate service to ensure those who can afford to do so spend more for better broadband.”
In an op-ed posted to Quartz on Thursday, Livni wrote that the coronavirus crisis demonstrates the need for the internet to be classified as a “public utility,” due to the need for unrestricted communication of information about the spreading disease.
Under the FCC’s repeal order, the internet was reclassified as an “information service,” meaning that it would be largely unregulated by the government.
Photo by Federal Communications Commission / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
