A federal appeals court judge ruled that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rules on “net neutrality” overstepped its authority.
American Faith reported that the Democratic majority voted 3-2 in April to restore the Obama-era net neutrality rules. The net neutrality rules required internet service providers (ISP) to allow access to all content and applications without favoring or blocking websites.
Americans for Prosperity senior policy analyst James Czerniawski said at the time that “net neutrality is Bidenomics for the web – an expensive government takeover of the internet that would increase costs, limit choice, and stifle innovation.
U.S. Circuit Judge Judge Richard Allen Griffin wrote that the Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet Order “once more imposes net-neutrality policies on Broadband Internet Service Providers by reclassifying broadband Internet as a telecommunications service subject to common-carrier regulation under Title II.”
“This order—issued during the Biden administration—undoes the order issued during the first Trump administration, which undid the order issued during the Obama administration, which undid orders issued during the Bush and Clinton administrations,” Griffin explained, adding, “[W]e hold that Broadband Internet Service Providers offer an information service and that mobile broadband is a private mobile service. Therefore, the FCC exceeded its statutory authority by issuing the Safeguarding Order.”
FCC Commissioner Brandan Carr celebrated the ruling.
“Today’s decision is a good win for the country. Over the past four years, the Biden Administration has worked to expand the government’s control over every feature of the Internet ecosystem. You can see it in the Biden Administration’s efforts to pressure social media companies into censoring the free speech rights of everyday Americans. You can see it in the Biden Administration’s demand that the FCC adopt ‘digital equity’ rules for the Internet—sweeping regulations that give the Commission nearly limitless powers over the Internet. And you can see it in the Biden Administration’s decision to impose so-called ‘net neutrality’ rules by applying Title II or utility-style regulations to the Internet,” Carr said in a statement.
“I am pleased that the appellate court invalidated President Biden’s Internet power grab by striking down these unlawful Title II regulations,” he added. “But the work to unwind the Biden Administration’s regulatory overreach will continue. I welcome the chance to advance a policy agenda that will deliver great results for the American people.”
