President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday seeking to restore the Obama-era net neutrality rules.
Biden will sign an executive order to call for more regulation and enforcement against big tech and large telecommunication companies to spur more competition. Among the other regulations, the executive order will encourage the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate the Obama-era net neutrality rules that would prohibit blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.
Tech experts railed against the net neutrality rules, believing that it would turn the internet into a public utility. They also believed that it would diminish the freedom of the internet.
Many pundits have also noted social media giants such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter curb free speech, while internet service providers (ISPs) have not blocked content.
Nathan Leamer, a former FCC senior staffer under then-Chairman Ajit Pai, noted that the messaging for net neutrality is no longer about preserving an “open internet” but about promoting “competition.”
“Notice the narrative change. is no longer an effort to create an open Internet without blocking and throttling, but is suddenly about (checks notes) competition. Because small providers need more onerous red tape to compete,” Leamer wrote.
Notice the narrative change. #netneutrality is no longer an effort to create an open Internet without blocking and throttling, but is suddenly about (checks notes) competition.
Because small providers need more onerous red tape to compete.https://t.co/VPoXKVMSUs
— Nathan Leamerἱ (@NathanLeamerDC) July 9, 2021
The FCC repealed the net neutrality rules under Pai’s leadership during the Donald Trump administration. The repeal led to faster internet speeds just one year later.
Many establishment media outlets and leftists made hyperbolic claims after net neutrality’s repeal, which Breitbart News’ Allum Bokhari cataloged.
CNN once claimed it would result in the “end of the internet as we know it.”
Evan Swartztrauber, a former senior staffer for the FCC during the Trump administration, said, “Reminder: ISPs are not blocking, throttling, and discriminating against content. Hysteria over [Net Neutrality] was baseless and the absurd predictions never came to pass.”
Reminder: ISPs are not blocking, throttling, and discriminating against content. Hysteria over #NetNeutrality was baseles and the absurd predictions never came to pass.
There is plenty of discriminatory conduct online, just not at the network layer. Look elsewhere in the stack. pic.twitter.com/Ov7Ifs7xRa
— Evan Swarztrauber ⚾ (@SayreEvan) July 9, 2021
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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