Senate votes to ditch repeal of net neutrality
Senate Democrats — and a handful of Republicans — voted to overturn the FCC’s net neutrality repeal yesterday, a move they say is the first step to ensuring an open internet, though the bill’s prospects are unclear.
“After you pay your monthly bill to your internet service provider, you should be able to access all of the content on the internet at the same speed as your neighbor,” U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey (DMass.) said. “Overwhelmingly, in the country, that’s what people want.”
The vote is the first step in a congressional process that allows Congress to overturn regulations put in place by the White House. The bill will now go to the House of Representatives, where its fate is unclear. If the House passes the bill, it would go to President Trump for his signature.
The Congressional Review Act allows senators that secure enough support to bring a vote to the floor, even without the approval of the majority leader in the Senate. Yesterday’s vote included three Republicans, including Susan Collins of Maine.
“I think people realize how critical net neutrality is to consumers, to young companies,” Markey said. “This is a huge momentum creator, especially with three Republican votes.”
Markey said he expects to see more Republican members of the House come out in favor of net neutrality following the vote.
Republicans who voted against the measure criticized the move as “political theater” with little chance of becoming law. The threshold Democrats must reach to force a bill on the House floor is much higher than in the Senate.
Even if the effort fails, Markey said, he expects net neutrality to become a campaign issue in the upcoming elections.
“There’s no question that net neutrality is something voters under the age of 40 care a lot about,” he said.
The FCC’s existing net neutrality rules are set to end June 11 after the commission voted to gut the rules last year.
Net neutrality rules, enacted under fomer President Barack Obama, prevented internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon from forcing customers to pay extra to access certain websites, or slowing down traffic speeds to certain websites. Open internet advocates and web companies, including many in Massachusetts, have praised the approach, which has been criticized for being overly burdensome and unnecessary by internet providers and others.