In an effort to reverse open internet rules that were repealed by the Trump administration in 2017, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that Democrats will soon introduce a bill that will replace the rules this week.
In a statement released this Monday, Pelosi said the bill would be called the “Save the Internet Act” and will be unveiled this Wednesday.
As The Hill points out, it’s still unclear what will be in the bill since its contents have not yet been released.
In December of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal its landmark internet protections after a long campaign by the agency’s Republican members. The agency voted 3-2 along party lines to repeal its 2015 Open Internet Order while activists as Democratic lawmakers protested. The regulations were originally intended to prevent internet providers from siphoning or increasing internet speed to various consumers.
From The Hill:
Republicans and the broadband industry have called for legislation codifying net neutrality, but there remain some partisan divisions over what rules should be in effect and how they should be enforced.
The GOP has criticized the Obama-era rules as overly burdensome, in part because they reclassified broadband as a telecommunications service, which designates internet service providers as common carriers and opens up the industry to tougher regulation.
Since the repeal, major internet providers say they’ve done nothing to capitalize on it.
The bill faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate. Some think the move is more of a symbolic gesture on the part of the Democrats to take advantage of the current political climate.
Featured image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
