It’s official: Repeal of net neutrality rules now in effect

The Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules, which had required internet service providers to offer equal access to all web content, took effect Monday.

The rules, enacted by the administration of President Barack Obama in 2015, prohibited internet providers from charging more for certain content or from giving preferential treatment to certain websites.

After the commission voted to repeal the rules in December, it faced a public outcry, legal challenges from state attorneys general and public interest groups, and a push by Democratic lawmakers to overturn the decision. The opponents argued that the repeal would open the door for service providers to censor content online or charge additional fees for better service — something that could hurt small companies — and several states have taken steps to impose the rules on a local level.

Still, the repeal was a big win for Ajit Pai, the FCC’s chairman, who has long opposed the regulations, saying they impeded innovation. He once said they were based on “hypothetical harms and hysterical prophecies of doom.”

These rules were repealed

Blocking: Internet service providers could not discriminate against any lawful content by blocking websites or apps.

Throttling: Service providers could not slow the transmission of data because of the nature of the content, as long as it was legal.

Paid prioritization: Service providers could not create an internet fast lane for companies and consumers who paid premiums and a slow lane for those who didn’t.

Should you be worried?

Many consumer advocates argued that once the rules were scrapped, broadband providers would begin selling the internet in bundles, not unlike cable television packages. Want access to Facebook and Twitter? Under a bundling system, getting on those sites could require paying for a premium social media package.

Another major concern is that consumers could suffer from pay-to-play deals. Some small-business owners are worried, too, that industry giants could pay to get an edge and leave them on an unfair playing field. E-commerce startups have feared that they could end up on the losing end of paid prioritization, with their websites and services loading more slowly than those run by internet behemoths. Remote workers of all kinds, including freelancers and franchisees in the so-called gig economy, could similarly face higher costs to do their jobs from home.

It might not matter to you

Several states have taken measures to ensure the rules stay in effect. For example, in March, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, a Democrat, signed a law that effectively replaced the federal rules. Others, including the governors of Montana and New York, used executive orders to force net neutrality. As of late May, 29 state legislatures had introduced bills meant to ensure net neutrality, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

An argument against the rules

The FCC said it had repealed the rules because they restrained broadband providers like Verizon and Comcast from experimenting with new business models and investing in new technology. Several internet providers made public pledges that they would not block or throttle sites once the rules were repealed. The companies argued that Title II gave the FCC too much control over their business and that the regulations made it hard to expand their networks.

#NetNeutrality trending

Democratic lawmakers who are opposed to the repeal took to social media, promising to reinstate the regulations. Still, others cheered the rollback. Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the FCC, said on Twitter: “Americans are passionate about the free and open internet. We don’t want to be blocked or throttled or have our online experience subject to the whims of an internet provider.”

Internet already was changed

Perhaps the repeal won’t change the direction of the internet. On Monday, Farhad Manjoo argued in his New York Times column that “by the time Tom Wheeler, an FCC chief under President Barack Obama, handed down rules to protect neutrality in 2015, we had already strayed quite far from the internet of the early 2000s.

“Today, the internet is run by giants. A handful of American tech behemoths control the most important digital infrastructure, while a handful of broadband companies — AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Verizon — control most of the internet connections in the United States,” he wrote.