The Federal Communications Commission has voted for a Biden administration plan to promote “equity and diversity” online that some critics are calling a “takeover of the Internet.”
The FCC on Wednesday voted 3-2 for a plan that would give the federal government complete authority over the Internet.
The plan is being sold as a means to prevent digital discrimination and ensure equitable access to broadband internet in the United States. The proposal, however, grants broad access to and regulatory control over all parts of the Internet that many justifiably believe will lead to government abuse.
The FCC would have the authority to control the following aspects of each Internet Service Provider, according to the document:
- “network infrastructure deployment, network reliability, network upgrades, network maintenance, customer-premises equipment, and installation”;
- “speeds, capacities, latency, data caps, throttling, pricing, promotional rates, imposition of late fees, opportunity for equipment rental, installation time, contract renewal terms, service termination terms, and use of customer credit and account history”;
- “mandatory arbitration clauses, pricing, deposits, discounts, customer service, language options, credit checks, marketing or advertising, contract renewal, upgrades, account termination, transfers to another covered entity, and service suspension.”
FCC Commissioner Brandon Carr earlier lambasted the Biden administration for its attempted Internet “takeover” in a memorandum.
“Needless to say, Congress never contemplated the sweeping regulatory regime that President Biden asked the FCC to adopt—let alone authorized the agency to implement it,” he added. “Nonetheless, the Commission will vote next week, on November 15th, to put President Biden’s plan in place. A draft of the FCC order implementing President Biden’s plan is available here. I oppose the plan for several reasons.”
“As exhausting as it is to read that list, the FCC itself says it is not an exhaustive li,” Carr continues. “The Biden Administration’s plan empowers the FCC to regulate every aspect of the Internet sector for the first time ever. The plan is motivated by an ideology of government control that is not compatible with the fundamental precepts of free market capitalism.”
“But it gets worse,” he adds. “The FCC reserves the right under this plan to regulate both ‘actions and omissions, whether recurring or a single instance.’ In other words, if you take any action, you may be liable, and if you do nothing, you may be liable. There is no path to complying with this standardless regime. It reads like a planning document drawn up in the faculty lounge of a university’s Soviet Studies Department.”
Carr also extensively fact-checked the alleged “myths” being put out by the Biden administration to further its bid to tightly regulate the Internet.
In his fact check, Carr notes the hysterical claims that the end of Net Neutrality turned out to be just that — hysterical claims.
Biden in February quietly issued an executive order stating his administration’s intention to regulate the Internet based on the goals of promoting “diversity” and equity.
It is called the “Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government.”
A phrase from the executive order caused a number of people to become concerned:
When designing, developing, acquiring, and using artificial intelligence and automated systems in the Federal Government, agencies shall do so, consistent with applicable law, in a manner that advances equity.
The implementation of the executive order would entail a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) board that would supervise the rollout of AI to promote “equity” — an anomalous term that can be defined to fit any bureaucratic action.
