Trump Signals Net Neutrality Is the Next Target

WASHINGTON — In response to a question about President Trump’s support for the privacy-killing resolution Congress passed earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer indicated on Thursday that the administration will soon come after the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules and the legal authority the agency relies on to enforce them.

“The previous administration, in an attempt to treat internet service providers differently than edge providers, such as Google and Facebook, reclassified them as common carriers,” Spicer said. “The president pledged to reverse this type of federal overreach in which bureaucrats in Washington take the interests of one group of companies over the interests of others, picking winners and losers.”

Free Press Action Fund President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:

“Make no mistake: The Trump administration is threatening to take away the fundamental safeguards that keep the internet free and open. Many were surprised to see that killing broadband privacy was the top Republican priority after the GOP failed to dismantle Obamacare, but people everywhere are now awake to the dire threat this administration poses to internet freedom. Whether it’s privacy or Net Neutrality, Trump is committed to pushing the profits of the nation’s biggest phone and cable companies over the needs of millions and millions of Americans.

“The FCC’s historic 2015 ruling — which came after more than 4 million people fought to make it happen — protects internet users everywhere from abuse, discrimination and exploitation by companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. In addition to Net Neutrality, this decision gave the FCC the authority it needs to step in to protect the public from being surveilled, manipulated or ripped off by these powerful gatekeepers.

“It took a decade to win the fight for Net Neutrality, and people will not sit by silently when politicians threaten to take it away. They will defend the open internet and the free expression, economic innovation and popular organizing it makes possible. The system may be rigged in favor of corporate giants, but Donald Trump is about to find out the hard way what happens when you mess with the internet.”