Washington AG to sue over net neutrality repeal

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that he would sue to block the end of net neutrality rules, becoming the latest state attorney general to announce a challenge to the repeal.

{mosads}His announcement comes shortly after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, voted Thursday to roll back the Obama-era rules in a 3-2 vote down party lines.

Ferguson positioned his suit as an attempt to thwart the Trump administration’s moves to roll back regulations across the government.

“We are the 5-0 against the Trump Administration because they often fail to follow the law when taking executive action,” he said in a statement.

“Allowing internet service providers to discriminate based on content undermines a free and open internet. Today’s action will seriously harm consumers, innovation and small businesses,” he continued.

Ferguson will join New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who also on Thursday announced his intention to sue in an attempt to preserve net neutrality rules.

Ferguson, Schneiderman and other attorneys general had criticized Pai’s decision to proceed with the net neutrality vote on Thursday. They had questioned the legitimacy of the open comment period in which the public could file opinions on net neutrality, citing the millions of fake comments that were filed during the process.