OTI Urges Senate to Pass the Save the Internet Act

Today, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will request that the U.S. Senate pass the Save the Internet Act. The bill, which would reinstate the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2015 net neutrality rules, passed the House in April and is similar to a measure that passed the Senate with bipartisan support in 2018. The bill would empower the FCC to protect consumers from internet service providers’ (ISPs) harmful practices, and would specifically reinstate the 2015 rules that prohibited ISPs from blocking, throttling, and engaging in paid prioritization schemes.

Outside of Washington, D.C., surveys have consistently shown that a strong bipartisan majority of people are in favor of net neutrality. These rules serve as crucial protections for small businesses to maintain a competitive playing field on the internet, and are critical to protecting free speech and advancing social and racial justice.

The following quote can be attributed to Sarah Morris, Director of New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“Today, on the anniversary of the effective repeal date of the 2015 rules, the Senate has the opportunity to reinstate strong net neutrality protections. The 2015 rules were tremendously popular across party lines because people instinctively know that they can’t trust their ISPs not to block, throttle, or use their market power to dominate or control the internet marketplace.

“By repealing the net neutrality rules, this FCC has left internet users on their own when it comes to harmful practices ISPs often employ, including during last year’s California wildfires when first responders were left with no regulator to evaluate the scope of the throttling of firefighters’ service or remedy the compromised access to the network. Indeed, the FCC has kneecapped itself as the expert agency rule-enforcer across a number of critical issues affecting internet access and openness. With momentum following the successful vote in the House, now is the time for the Senate to restore the 2015 rules.”