CYBERSPACE—As anticipated less than a month ago, today the Federal Communications Commission repealed the Obama-era “net neutrality” regulations with the five-member FCC panel of commissioners voting along party lines.
The Obama-era net neutrality regulations imposed in 2015 required internet service providers to provide equal access to all content transmitted via the internet. Now that the rules are repealed, consumer advocates and free speech supporters fear that ISPs such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other large corporations will be allowed to pick and choose which content gets through to users, as well as choose whether to slow down or speed up the delivery of particular content, possibly charging an extra fee for speed of access.
The outcry over the decision has been swift and widespread, including this statement from the Free Speech Coalition, the adult industry’s leading trade organization. Executive Director Eric Paul Leue said, “Today's vote to repeal net neutrality radically reshapes the landscape for minority populations, sexual health educators, and of course adult consumers, performers and producers. We warned after the election last year that we would see massive infringements on our freedoms and sadly—we were right. We are now likely to see attempts to slow, segregate or outright block adult content on networks, just as we have seen in any space where corporations have seized control of the public square—social media, online advertising and marketplaces. But the battle isn't over. We will be working with our partners at organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the ACLU to preserve the rights of not only adult consumers, but of those who believe that a free internet is central to innovation and democracy.”
TechCrunch.com offers a “what comes next” take on the news, stating, “The battle is lost. What of the war? Here’s what happens next, and what you can do to help.”
The site notes that though there is little to do right now, opponents can look ahead to a spate of lawsuits next year. “When the rules get entered in the federal register, the floodgates open,” Devin Coldewey writes, detailing the sources of legal opposition. But he opines that ISPs may not move quickly to react to the changes: “The net neutrality rules may be effectively dead, but there are several reasons why broadband providers won’t make any overt efforts to take advantage of the fact.”
Speaking of legal action, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman released a statement announcing that he will lead a multistate lawsuit to stop the rollback of net neutrality. Find that statement here. And expect other states to follow: One place to watch for updates: the @LatestAnonNews page on Twitter.
Another promise of legal action came from Netfllix. “This is the beginning of a longer legal battle. Netflix stands w/ innovators, large & small, to oppose this misguided FCC order,” read a tweet issued shortly after the FCC vote.
If it seems as if there wasn’t much media coverage prior to such an important vote, that’s because … there wasn’t. MediaMatters.org takes a look at how the issue was covered (or not) by the major television news outlets in a post titled “Net neutrality dies in silence as morning shows largely ignore FCC's vote.” Check out visual representation of the coverage here.
For another analysis of the decision, see coverage by The Nation: “Addressing the American people on the day when the FCC dismissed millions of appeals on behalf of Net Neutrality, dissenting commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Thursday: “What saddens me is that the agency that is supposed to protect you is abandoning you.”
