To undo Trump’s net neutrality policy, the Biden admin drops a lawsuit
To undo Trump’s net neutrality policy, the Biden admin drops a lawsuit
In today’s installment of “Elections Have Consequences,” the Biden administration has turned its attention to net neutrality. Specifically, to undoing one of the Trump administration’s net neutrality policies by withdrawing from a lawsuit to overturn California’s internet regulations.
As a refresher, the net neutrality debate is about whether internet service providers can give special treatment to one kind of internet traffic over another.
The Obama administration said no, the Trump administration said yes, and that wasn’t even the first round.
“This pingpong game has now been going on since 2002,” said Gigi Sohn, a fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy.
California lawmakers didn’t agree with the Trump administration’s position, so the state set its own policy.
Brent Skorup at the Mercatus Center said the goal was to undermine the federal rules.
“In the short term, California’s rules could serve as a de facto net neutrality policy for the nation. And I think that’s intentional. You see California doing this in other areas, like emissions testing,” he said.
That’s why the Trump administration decided to fight the California law.
Now, the Biden administration is dropping that challenge, but that doesn’t mean it’s over, according to Samir Jain, policy director at the Center for Democracy & Technology.
“The lawsuit is actually going to continue, because in addition to the Trump administration, previously, the industry groups had sued to stop the California statute, so that part of the suit still is ongoing,” he said.
But that probably won’t matter much, Sohn said. She expects “that the Biden [Federal Communications Commission] will restore net neutrality and also restore its authority over the broadband industry.”
The only real, long-term resolution may be if Congress rather than one of the agencies makes a final decision.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
