AFP on Plans to Roll Back Net Neutrality

Arlington, Va. – AFP is commending Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for advancing a plan for the FCC to roll back Obama-era Internet regulations, which improperly classified the Internet as a Title II telecommunications service under the Communications Act, and imposed rules commonly known as net neutrality. 

These rules, formally known as the Open Internet Order, prohibited Internet service providers from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization of content, and opened the Internet up to greatly expanded regulation.

Americans For Prosperity Chief Government Officer Brent Gardner issued the following statement:

“We’re thankful to Chairman Pai for working to restore the government’s traditional hands-off approach to the Internet. It was the competitive free market that gave us the Internet, one of the greatest innovations in history, and keeping the Internet free of government meddling will allow continued advancements.”

AFP opposed net neutrality regulations because they were both unnecessary and counterproductive. Rather than increasing access to an open and free Internet, the rules have deterred investment and undermined innovation, resulting in higher costs for consumers. The most dangerous aspect of the federal overreach, the group said, was the potential for a vast increase in the level of Internet regulation under Title II going forward.

Today’s announcement opens the way to halting further Internet regulations and sweeps away any possibility of the FCC imposing Internet service taxes and rate regulations, keeping the Internet truly open.