Trump Administration Sues California Over Net Neutrality

On Sunday, September 30th, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill to adopt its own statewide net neutrality laws, which were repealed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the later half of last year.

As a brief primer, net neutrality, or Title II, is the principle in which all Internet service providers (ISPs) regard all information and data on the internet as the same, that ISPs cannot make consumers pay for priority, and to not favor, slow, or block any forms of internet content.

While Title II was repealed by the FCC in June, it has gathered lawsuits from over 20 states under the claim that the FCC has acted arbitrarily in repealing the regulations. Smaller web firms and companies are concerned that their content might not be seen due to being unable to pay for their content being viewed under the telecom providers. Because of the unfair advantage given to companies with the resources, and lack of options for smaller start-ups, state governors and legislatures are trying to keep net neutrality rules within borders, despite FCC's prohibition of states writing their own free internet laws.

In summary, the recent law does not allow ISPs to favor, slow, or block any forms of internet content, nor charge websites and consumers alike for priority and cellular data caps, preserving Title II.

The signing of the bill brings contention from the Department of Justice (DOJ), who will take California to court with the argument that congress, and not state leaders, exclusively have the power to change and regulate the former net neutrality laws, with Californian legislature's actions being described as "illegal" by both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The DOJ also emphasizes that the FCC has been given the congressional power to prohibit all states from writing their own laws that go against the FCC's repeal of net neutrality.

Sources:

1. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB822
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/01/trump-administration-is-suing-california-quash-its-new-net-neutrality-law/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.483074d621ac
3. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/gov-jerry-brown-signs-bill-restore-net-neutrality-california-n915221
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_m7qNepig