National Urban League Statement on FCC Repealing Net Neutrality Protections
WASHINGTON, DC (December 14, 2017) – Today, National Urban League President and CEO, Marc H. Morial, released the following statement on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) reversal of net neutrality rules:
“The National Urban League is disappointed that the FCC has chosen to abolish the bright-line net neutrality rules that are so important to ensuring our community’s unobstructed access to an open internet. While the National Urban League has been critical of the Title II framework as an impediment to the broadband investment needed to close the digital divide, we have consistently argued that net neutrality should still be protected through enforceable FCC rules under Section 706. This order falls far short of that bar.
“The public commitments of internet service providers and the threat of FTC enforcement may help prevent abuses in the short term, but, absent the FCC’s willingness to protect these important principles, it is clear Congress needs to step in and develop a stronger, long-term solution that ensures an open internet, while encouraging investment desperately needed to speed broadband deployment and adoption to underserved communities. The core principles aren’t any secret: No blocking, throttling, or discrimination that relegates some users to slow lanes online, and openness and transparency for all. After more than a decade of uncertainty at the FCC and in the courts, it is long past time for Congress to finally settle this issue.”
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Media Contact: K. Kim Atterbury | katterbury@nul.org | (202) 629-5750
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