Credit: Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
- The FCC voted today, 3-2, to restore federal Net Neutrality laws in the United States.
- Net Neutrality is the idea that broadband internet should be treated similarly to a public utility, with government regulations protecting access and restricting what ISPs can and cannot do.
- Federal enforcement of Net Neutrality principles was previously repealed during the Trump administration, primarily orchestrated by the Trump-appointed FCC chair at the time, Ajit Pai.
Today, in a 3-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reinstated federal Net Neutrality rules in the United States. Under new FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel — appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, shortly after he took office — Net Neutrality has, after a years-long stint away, once again become the law of the land.
“Broadband is now an essential service,” Rosenworcel said ahead of the vote. “Essential services, the ones we count on in every aspect of modern life, have some basic oversight.” She added that, for all Americans, broadband internet has gone from “nice to have, to need to have.”