FCC Chairman Pushes to Roll Back Net Neutrality

Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has launched a campaign to undo net-neutrality regulations adopted in 2015 under former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Pai spoke on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., about plans to loosen the legal structure that placed internet service providers under the strictest-ever oversight. Pai said he wants to “reverse the mistake” and return to the “light-touch regulatory framework” that had previously been in place.

“When we are saddled with FCC rules that will deny many Americans high-speed internet access and jobs, doing nothing is nothing doing,” he said. “Going forward, we cannot stick with regulations from the Great Depression meant to micromanage Ma Bell. Instead, we need rules that focus on growth and infrastructure investment, rules that expand high-speed internet access everywhere and give Americans more online choice, faster speeds and more innovation.”

He outlined the proposed changes as firstly, a return to the classification of broadband service from a Title II telecommunications service to a Title I information service, and secondly, the elimination of the so-called internet conduct standard, and said the FCC is also seeking comment on how to approach the so-called bright-line rules adopted in 2015.

Pai said: “When the FCC rammed through the Title II Order two years ago, I expressed hope that we would look back at that vote ‘as an aberration, a temporary deviation from the bipartisan path that ha[d] served us so well.’ And I voiced my confidence that the Title II Order’s days were already numbered.

“At the FCC’s next meeting on May 18, we will take a significant step towards making that prediction a reality. And later this year, I am confident that we will finish the job. Make no mistake about it: this is a fight that we intend to wage and it is a fight that we are going to win.”

Many groups, including the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), have come out in opposition to Pai’s plans to rescind open internet rules. The WGAW issued a statement that reads: “The Writers Guild of America, West strongly objects to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s decision to undermine the FCC’s Open Internet Rules and surrender control of the internet to a handful of corporations. The current rules, which reclassified broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, are supported by millions of Americans and have been upheld in court. They have protected the internet from anticompetitive actions by internet service providers. These rules have allowed more independent and diverse programming to flourish, providing new creative and economic opportunities for writers and choices for consumers. As content creators and free speech advocates, we stand by the rules because they provide the best protection for the free and open internet.”