What will the Sixth Circuit tell us about the FCC’s net neutrality ruling? The case of Loper Bright, the president of the Federal Communications Commission, in a statement
The FCC’s net neutrality rules were thrown out by the appeals court, ending a push to regulate internet service providers like a public utility.
The judges are free to wax philosophical about phrases like “offering of a capability” and “information services”, which can be used to explain the distinction between these and more heavily regulated telecommunications services. “The existence of a fact or a thought in one’s mind is not ‘information’ like 0s and 1s used by computers,” one part of the ruling reads. It asserts that speaking reduces a thought to sound and that writing reduces a thought to text, but that the telephone service merely transmit that which a speaker does.
The incoming FCC chair, named by President-elect Trump, stated in a statement that he will work towards undoing the Biden Administration’s regulations, which he called “Biden’s Internet power grab.”
USTelecom hailed Thursday’s decision in a statement, calling the struck rules “a victory for American consumers that will lead to more investment, innovation, and competition in the dynamic digital marketplace.”
As a result of this, the FCC wants to make service providers accountable for their failures, require more robust network security, protect fast speeds, and protect consumer data.
Net neutrality was first introduced by the FCC in 2015, and then repealed by Donald Trump two years later.
It’s a largely partisan issue that has found Democrats on the side of so-called net neutrality in an effort to hold ISPs more accountable for providing fast, safe and reliable internet for all. The Biden Administration prioritized implementing net neutrality rules and was dealt a blow by the decision.
And not just on issues affecting the broadband industry. The Sixth Circuit showed today how courts might use the end of Chevron to shape policy in lots of areas, from tech to the environment to health care.
“It’s a sad day for democracy when giant corporations can forum-shop for industry-friendly judges to strike down some of the most popular consumer protection rules in history,” says Evan Greer, director of the digital rights nonprofit Fight for the Future. “The court citing Loper Bright here is an alarming harbinger of industry-friendly rulings to come.”
How can Congress get rid of the mismatch of power in a Republican-dominated legislature? Comment on Bergmayer’s “Falling through the fog”
There’s at least one way out of this imbalance of power, Bergmayer says: Congress can pass a bill that explicitly says agencies have the authority to interpret laws. That is not likely in a GOP-led legislature that is hostile toward the administrative state.
