Taxpayers Protection Alliance Endorses Cruz-Lee Rollback of FCC’s Digital Discrimination Rule

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara Zupkus, (224)-456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) supports a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution submitted today by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) onerous digital discrimination rules.

The commission’s order that was passed in November is far-reaching assault on property rights. The FCC gave itself the ability to micromanage many aspects of a service provider’s functions, from network infrastructure deployment decisions to price controls.

TPA’s Director of Telecom Policy, Johnny Kampis, offered the following comment:

“While the commission removed some language from the upcoming Title II ‘net neutrality’ order that would have given it the direct ability to regulate broadband rates, that language now exists in the digital discrimination order. As a result, the FCC is engaging in unlawful price regulation by including price in the covered elements of service in this order.

A provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the FCC to adopt rules to facilitate equal access to broadband and to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin. Even though two years of studying led the commission to conclude there was little or no evidence of intentional discrimination, the FCC moved forward with rules using the disparate impact standard. This could result in providers being held accountable for unintentional actions, including those beyond their control, that ultimately lead to disparate impacts between communities.

“The plan proposed by the FCC is a slippery slope that could unfairly place blame on providers for digital divides. Companies not serving a rural area with a mostly nonwhite population will be accused of discrimination under the disparate impact standard, despite the fact that the same scenario often occurs in other rural areas with majority white populations due to the difficult economics of deploying broadband in low-population areas.

“By arbitrarily creating liability for companies operating on market principles, the FCC’s actions on digital discrimination stand in stark contrast to the Biden administration’s stated goals of closing the digital divide. We applaud Sens. Cruz and Lee for leading this necessary effort to overturn the commission’s mistake.”