Real World Outcomes Show Vacuity of Arguments Supporting so-called “Net Neutrality”

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On Friday, supporters of so-called “net neutrality” regulations will take their case to the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in Mozilla v. FCC, seeking to invalidate the FCC’s 2017 “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” (RIFO). But the real world outcomes since FCC rolled back the Obama Administration’s destructive and ill-advised 2015 regulation have shown so-called “net neutrality” supporters’ arguments against FCC’s rollback were unfounded at best.

Associate Director of CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin said:

“The fundamentals of net neutrality regulations remain bad policy and now, more than a year after the Federal Communications Commission repealed those regulations, the proof is in the pudding.

“Broadband speeds in the U.S. increased nearly 40 percent and fiber was made available to more new homes in 2018 than in any other year. Those actual outcomes are a far cry from the ‘end of the Internet’ predicted by advocates of regulation. All proof to the contrary, those same supporters of regulation are now taking their agenda back to the courts in Mozilla v. FCC.

“Instead of burdening one of the nation’s most dynamic industries with rules that arbitrarily favor content providers over cable providers (and ignore private property rights), Congress should define both wire and radio Internet broadband as an information service and revise the Communications Act to deny the FCC the authority to regulate the provision of broadband Internet access and services that use the Internet.

“Unwise net neutrality regulations or legislation will threaten innovation and deter investment all in the name of solving a problem that doesn’t exist. Congress should resist.”

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