LOS ANGELES—Net neutrality advocates have stepped up pressure on the new administration of President Joe Biden to appoint a fifth member of the Federal Communications Commission board, which has been deadlocked with two Republicans and two Democrats and one vacant seat since Biden took office nearly three months ago. A new petition calling on Biden to break the paralyzing deadlock has already received about 105,000 online signatures, according to a report by Ars Technica.
“We desperately need a functional FCC now: Millions of people are without reliable Internet access in the midst of a pandemic,” the petition by internet advocacy groups Fight for the Future and Demand Progress states. “The Biden administration needs to nominate a fifth commissioner who doesn't have ties to the telecom industry and will stand up to the ISPs, who supports reinstating net neutrality, and who will expand broadband and ensure everyone—especially low-income neighborhoods and communities of color who have experienced the greatest harm by the digital divide—has affordable access to the Internet.”
In 2018, the FCC then led by Donald Trump appointee Ajit Pai repealed federal net neutrality regulations, allowing internet access companies to pick and choose between content providers, giving favorable treatment to some and slowing or blocking traffic for others, if they chose to do so. Net neutrality rules are especially important for the online adult industry, because without them, adult content could be subject to blocking, censorship, or even additional fees.
Pai resigned from the FCC Chair position on January 20, the same day that Biden was inaugurated, leaving the fifth board seat vacant. Another seat was filled by Trump nominee Nathan Simington, who was confirmed by the Senate during the final weeks of its lame duck session in December.
Simington’s last-minute confirmation prevented Biden from nominating a Democrat to the seat, and created a 2-2 deadlock, effectively paralyzing the board until Biden names a fifth member. But Biden has yet to do so, even though he named FCC board member and net neutrality advocate Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as acting Chair.
The Free Press Action group, which also posted the petition on its own site, wrote that Biden’s delay in naming a fifth FCC board member “has put some of our most important work on hold.”
Among the policies that remain in limbo due to the FCC paralysis, according to Free Press Action, are “having an expert agency fully capable of taking bold action to make internet access more affordable and hold ISPs accountable for their abusive behavior; restoring Net Neutrality and its crucial protections against discrimination; and ensuring that people of color have the means to tell and own their own stories, with ownership of media outlets historically locked away in corporate conglomerates’ hands.”
A $2 trillion infrastructure plan proposed by Biden includes $100 billion to expand high speed broadband to regions of the country that now lack quality internet access. But to put the broadband expansion into effect “it’s critical to have a functioning FCC in place,” the activists said, in a Reddit post.
Photo By The White House / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
