New America’s Open Technology Institute Joins Public Interest Intervenors in Calling for Rehearing of Sixth Circuit Net Neutrality Decision

In response to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) “Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet” order, which had restored the agency’s authority over broadband internet providers by reclassifying broadband internet as a Title II telecommunications service, the Open Technology Institute (OTI)—a New America program fostering equitable access to digital technology and its benefits—issued the following statement from Raza Panjwani, a Senior Policy Counsel at OTI.

Last month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s 2024 Open Internet order, stripping its net neutrality protections from millions of American consumers. In doing so, the court reached the conclusion that, under the statute, broadband internet access must be classified as a Title I information service, among the likes of Netflix and TikTok. This decision simply does not make sense.

For one, consumers can easily distinguish their broadband internet service from their streaming and social media platforms, and we should expect the same from our federal court system. Furthermore, applying the court’s own logic to traditional telephone service—a quintessential example of a Title II telecommunications service—would render it equally indistinguishable from a Title I information service. The Sixth Circuit has flatly denied any inconsistencies here, but the facts speak for themselves.

With crucial consumer protections and a historic precedent at stake, we look forward to the full Sixth Circuit reconsidering this decision.