Is Net Neutrality Coming Back? Biden Waits On Confirmation Of Last FCC Commissioner

Net neutrality is poised to make a comeback if the Senate confirms President Joe Biden’s nominee Gigi Sohn, thus allowing Democrats to take control of the five-member FCC panel, CNBC reported.

Biden has already appointed Tim Wu, the man credited with popularizing the term net neutrality. The president has named Jessica Rosenworcel to lead the agency. Both have been confirmed by the Senate.

The point of net neutrality is to force ISPs like Comcast, At&T, and Verizon to treat internet traffic equally and not to discriminate by lowering speeds for some content. Net neutrality was axed under the Trump administration through the repeal of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 in 2017. Title II requires all common carriers to establish equal public access to communications networks.

Opponents of net neutrality have argued nothing bad has happened since the repeal of Title II and that streaming services have seen a massive increase in content, along with increased in-home learning and Zooming because of it. Proponents of net neutrality like that it brings speedy, reliable internet access and that it treats the internet as a public utility.

“Back when this was going around in 2015, ‘utility’ was being thrown around as some kind of swear word,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president of policy group Public Knowledge, which has previously received funding from content companies and broadband providers. “Now, a pandemic later, everybody says, ‘yeah, of course, broadband is a utility.’ ”

There are confirmation hurdles ahead for Sohn as Republicans have argued she would show bias against conservative content given her past criticisms of Fox News. Sohn maintains her past comments will not affect her job as commissioner.

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy vouched for Sohn’s confirmation, saying, “I’ve fought in the trenches side by side with Gigi Sohn for a number of years on multiple issues. I’m fully aware of Gigi’s personal views, yet I’m even more knowledgeable on her strong belief and advocacy for diversity in the programming lineup, especially in news, regardless of conflicts with her personal views.”