(Washington) The American telecommunications authority decided Thursday to restore the principle of “net neutrality”, which guarantees equal access to the internet and which the Trump administration had abolished.
The Federal Communications Agency (FCC) voted, by three votes (Democrats) to two (Republicans), to reinstate the regulations adopted under Barack Obama in 2015 on this principle.
Concretely, it prevents internet service providers (ISPs) from modulating the internet speed according to the content passing through their “pipes”.
“This agency, the nation’s leading communications authority, believes that every consumer deserves fast, open, and fair access to the internet,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said before the vote.
“These net neutrality rules ensure that you can go where you want and do what you want online without your broadband provider making choices for you,” she added.
“They make it clear that your ISP should not have the right to block websites, slow down services or censor online content.”
In 2017, under the government of Donald Trump, the FCC voted for the end of this principle, ensuring that it harmed telecoms investments in ultra-fast internet networks.
The president of the agency at that time believed that the rules on neutrality constituted an attempt to transform ISPs into public services, which he believed were less willing to invest.
“Doubtful maneuvers”
But this abolition has since been fought by many states and most of the major digital platforms are opposed to this “two-speed” internet and defend equal access.
They fear that dominant ISPs, such as Comcast and AT&T, will exclude competing services and create “fast” and “slow” lanes for online services.
California responded by passing its own net neutrality guarantee law, which it then had to defend in court.
On Thursday, Evan Greer, who heads the NGO Fight for the Future, said he was “delighted that the FCC is finally resuming its responsibilities to protect consumers from the worst misdeeds of large telecommunications companies.”
“Telecom giants, such as AT&T and Comcast, have spent millions on lobbying and dubious maneuvers to try to prevent the return of net neutrality. But they continue to lose,” added the director.
Ahead of the FCC vote, the NGO Electronic Frontier Foundation warned, however, that restoring the 2015 rules did not constitute a “miracle solution”.
“ISPs need to be open about how traffic is managed on their networks so everyone can know if there is a problem. Local authorities can also play a crucial role in supporting networks open to competition,” the organization explained.