American News Observer
Senators Introduce Resolution Challenging FCC’s “Digital Discrimination” Rules
America News Observer
WASHINGTON – In an unprecedented attempt to establish unwarranted federal control over the U.S. broadband industry, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted “digital discrimination” rules in November, which will go into effect on March 22, 2024. Under these rules, internet service providers (ISPs) are subject to a “disparate impact" standard, making them accountable for any unintentional discriminatory effects of their policies.
Under this framework, ISPs face liability, including possible fines and other sanctions, for any policies that lead to unequal broadband access, regardless of whether there was any discriminatory intent behind those policies. Further, the Commission’s rules grant the federal government an extensive mandate to oversee almost every aspect of broadband in the country.
According to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s dissenting statement, the rules essentially allow the Administrative State to regulate every decision pertaining to U.S. broadband service and ISP operations, including network infrastructure, service terms, customer interactions, and financial arrangements. The Commissioner explained the Biden administration’s broadband agenda can be boiled down to one word: control. Carr stated, “never before, in the roughly 40-year history of the public Internet, has the FCC (or any federal agency for that matter) claimed this degree of control over the Internet.”
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and their colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval to nullify the FCC’s “digital discrimination” rules and to protect the U.S. broadband industry from unjustifiable federal control, remove barriers to broadband expansion, and defend broadband providers from overreaching regulations.
“The FCC’s rulemaking is not about discrimination, but rather about government control,” said Senator Cramer. “The internet has successfully thrived in a free market, and more government control will not improve it.”
“The FCC’s heavy-handed 'Digital Discrimination' rule is a solution in search of a problem,” said Senator Lee. “It’s a broad overreach that threatens to entangle the internet in red tape, jeopardizing the very innovation that has made it a cornerstone of modern life. This resolution is our stand against Biden's attempt to regulate the internet into oblivion, ensuring the internet remains a dynamic and competitive marketplace for ideas, not a utility subject to government whims.”
This resolution is supported by several organizations and groups including Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Heritage Action for America, R Street Institute, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance. Another supporter of the resolution, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, sued the FCC in January over the Commission’s rulemaking. The U.S. Chamber said the FCC exceeded its authority and acted “arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Additional cosponsors include U.S. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Ted Budd (R-NC), Roger Marshall (R-KS), John Cornyn (R-TX), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Thune (R-SD), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), James Lankford (R-OK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Katie Britt (R-AL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
Click here for bill text.