Government Watchdog Group Slams FCC Chair for Renewed Net Neutrality Push

For Immediate Release                                     Contact: Courtney Mattison: (202) 525-7492 

September 26, 2023                                                          

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is set to announce plans to pursue an order to reinstate regulations that would classify internet as a Title II common carrier service under the Communications Act of 1934. The FCC briefly put these onerous regulations on broadband providers between 2015 and 2017 before former Chairman Ajit Pai led the effort to eliminate them.

In response, Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) Director of Telecom Policy Johnny Kampis offered the following comments:

“Despite clear evidence that Title II regulations hampered efforts to close the digital divide by reducing private broadband investment in the years the changes were discussed and then implemented, there continues to be an insatiable desire among Democrats for more needless control over the internet. Yet, since the repeal of Title II regulations in 2017, investment is up year over year and Americans are enjoying higher speeds for lower costs.”

Kampis pointed out that that a Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation (TPAF) investigation after the so-called net neutrality rules were removed found very few instances of throttling or blocking traffic by providers.

“It makes no sense that internet service providers would want to anger their own customers by impacting their ability to access the internet,” he said.

Kampis noted, too, that an effort by the FCC to reinstate Title II rules could be overturned by courts. The recent U.S. Supreme Court case West Virginia v EPA brings forth the Major Questions doctrine, which throws into question the ability of the FCC to recategorize the internet industry from its historical Title I designation, a lighter regulatory approach, to Title II.

“The SCOTUS decision certainly casts doubt on whether a federal agency can reclassify an entire industry without congressional approval,” Kampis said. “Any effort by Rosenworcel on the Title II switch could be tied up in federal courts for years, all while deterring necessary investment and reversing course on closing the digital divide.” 

Kampis finished, “If Rosenworcel is truly concerned about consumers she will focus on cutting regulatory red tape and continued improvements in broadband mapping instead of picking open this unnecessary wound.” 

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.