FCC's Carr: Net Neutrality Means More Govt Control

People are now understanding that "net neutrality" is just "an Orwellian euphemism for more government control," said Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican.

Under the principle of net neutrality, internet service providers (ISPs) would enable access to all content and applications wouldn't favor or block any particular products or websites.

The Federal Communications Commission will vote to reinstate net neutrality rules on April 25 and assume new regulatory oversight of broadband internet that was rescinded under former President Donald Trump, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed to Reuters.

"The pandemic made clear that broadband is an essential service, that every one of us — no matter who we are or where we live — needs it to have a fair shot at success in the digital age," she said.

Brendan Carr

Carr said there's nothing neutral about net neutrality.

"There's a portion of this decision that targets what we call 'zero rating,' which is if your cellphone provider can give you access to an application or a service and they don't charge you for it at all. Well, this decision — the draft document — targets that and puts it right in the crosshairs for prohibiting it," Carr said Thursday during an appearance on Newsmax's "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE."

"That's not going to be very neutral in terms of its impact on low-income consumers. Similarly, some people buy what we call data-limited plans. You buy 10 megabits or 20, because it happens to be more affordable than unlimited, all-you-can-eat plans. And the FCC says we're going to look at that, too. We think that might not be neutral to offer data-capped plans, which again could have a negative impact on consumers that are at the lower end of the price point," he added.

Reinstating the rules has been a priority for President Joe Biden, who signed a July 2021 executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate net neutrality rules adopted under Democrat President Barack Obama. Because Democrats did not take majority control of the five-member FCC until October, they were stymied for almost three years.

When Trump was in office, the FCC contended that net neutrality rules were unnecessary, thwarted innovation, and caused a decline in network investment by ISPs, which Democrats disputed.