In a 232-190 vote, Congress has passed H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, which directs the FCC to restore the Net Neutrality protections that Trump's FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stripped away through a fraudulent, corrupt process in 2017.
What's more, the Act passed without being substantially watered down or poisoned by sneaky amendments, thanks to widespread citizen action that put lawmakers on notice that such conduct would be noticed and punished at the ballot-box.
The bill goes to the Senate next. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised that it will be "dead on arrival," but if it gets to a recorded vote, anything could happen. Net Neutrality enjoys incredible, bipartisan support — 87% of Americans favor it — and GOP lawmakers are keenly aware that they will be fighting for their seats in 2020, while voters flock to the polls to make the election a referendum on Trump, Trumpism, white supremacy and corporate corruption.
Even if the bill dies in the Senate, that will give Democratic senate-race challengers a powerful stick to beat GOP incumbents with. No one wants their internet made worse, and voters are increasingly willing to punish lawmakers who sell them out on internet issues.
The Save the Internet Act was written to restore the strong and hard-fought protections of the 2015 Open Internet Order. Americans overwhelmingly support an Internet where Internet service providers (ISPs) have to treat all the data transmitted over their networks in a nondiscriminatory way. In other words, where ISPs don’t act as gatekeepers to the Internet and where you, the user, decide how and what you want to see online. As many Americans have no choice when it comes to their ISP, it is vital that they retain control over their online experience.Famously, violations of net neutrality have included the practices of blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. But that is not all that ISPs can do to warp your Internet experience. The Open Internet Order of 2015 prohibited these three techniques, while also including privacy and competition protections. All of these things would be restored with the Save the Internet Act. We deserve a return to the 2015 order, not a watered-down version of net neutrality.
Victory! The House of Representatives Passes Net Neutrality Protections
[Katharine Trendacosta and Ernesto Falcon/EFF Deeplinks]
