A federal appeals court struck down net neutrality on Thursday, ending the widely popular regulatory doctrine that mandated internet service providers to treat all internet traffic equally.
The ruling from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ends a federal rule prohibiting broadband providers from throttling internet speeds or blocking traffic to specific sites.
“The FCC lacks the statutory authority to impose its desired net-neutrality policies,” the judges wrote, overturning what they called the Federal Communication Commission’s “heavy-handed regulatory regime.”
The pro-consumer policy of net neutrality was implemented by President Barack Obama and gutted during Donald Trump's first term. It was reinstated in April of last year by the Biden administration. The now-defunct policy holds that internet carriers are akin to telecom providers and must comply with common carrier regulations governing those services.
Telecom giants like Verizon and AT&T have opposed the policy for nearly a decade, spending big money to back anti-regulation candidates.
The ruling, handed down on Thursday from three Republican judicial appointees, cited the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of the long-held precedent of "Chevron deference," which asked lower courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretation of the law.
Conservative federal courts have spent the last several years rolling back regulatory protections and the administrative state, with cases limiting the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency, pushing back against the Department of Education's authority to cancel student loans and blocking a Biden administration ban on trans healthcare discrimination.
FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the ruling went against the wishes of American consumers and urged legislators to step in.
"Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair. With this decision, it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law," Rosenworcel said in a statement.
Beyond internet consumer concerns, the ruling is another major blow against regulatory authority to protect American consumers, critics argue.
“[The ruling] doesn't just kill net neutrality, it delivers the final killing blow to any sort of coherent federal consumer broadband protection,” tech commentator Karl Bode said in a post to Bluesky.
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