Regulators in Washington voted Tuesday to approve new rules meant to stop Internet service providers from interfering with the way online content is delivered to their customers. The 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission illustrated the division on how much regulation the government should impose on the Internet.
Reaction to the decision was equally divided. Consumer and Internet advocates said the rules do not do enough to guarantee “Net neutrality,” the idea that all Internet content should be equally accessible. Opponents of the regulations said they were an unneeded expansion of the government’s role in regulating business and communications.
The FCC regulations require broadband companies to be open about how their networks function and to not secretly restrict some Internet services. The rules also ban Internet service providers from shutting out any kind of legal online traffic and from discriminating against some Internet content, including slower download speeds.
Rules for wireless services are not as strict because they can handle much less data than land-based services.
In a statement put out Tuesday by the White House, President Barack Obama said, “Today’s decision will help preserve the free and open nature of the Internet while encouraging innovation, protecting consumer choice, and defending free speech.’’
However, some Net Neutrality supporters were skeptical of the FCC’s decision.
“For the first time in history, the US government approved corporate censorship of the Internet, putting the future of online free speech at risk,’’ the advocacy group Progressive Change Campaign Committee said in a statement.