A Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wrote in an op-ed Wednesday that Americans must resist the agency’s plans to end net neutrality rules adopted under the Obama administration.
Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the FCC’s plan to gut net neutrality provisions is “lousy” and urged Americans to make their voices heard before a Dec. 14 vote.
“They have proposed to end net neutrality, and they are trying to force a vote on their plan on Dec. 14,” Rosenworcel writes. “It’s a lousy idea. And it deserves a heated response from the millions of Americans who work and create online every day.”
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Net neutrality rules passed in 2015 prohibit internet service providers from providing faster speeds to companies that pay them larger amounts, meaning that larger and smaller companies are treated the same. Proponents of net neutrality say it prohibits larger tech companies from throttling the competition’s internet traffic.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced this week that the FCC would overturn those rules in December after a vote.
“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet,” Pai said in a statement. “Instead, the FCC would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them.”
“Reach out to the rest of the FCC now,” Rosenworcel adds. “Tell them they can’t take away internet openness without a fight.”
Rosenworcel was confirmed to the FCC originally in 2012, and was unanimously confirmed to return under FCC head Ajit Pai in August. In her op-ed, she encourages net neutrality supporters to “make a ruckus” in the hopes of flipping at least one vote in favor of upholding the rules.
“I think the FCC needs to work for the public, and therefore that this proposal needs to be slowed down and eventually stopped,” she says.
“In the time before the agency votes, anyone who agrees should do something old-fashioned: Make a ruckus.”