Hillary Clinton gave a shout-out to a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission for her rallying call to “raise a ruckus” to save net neutrality, which the Republican-led FCC is poised to dismantle next month.
“Time to call foul. Time to raise a ruckus. Time to save #NetNeutrality,” Jessica Rosenworcel, one of two Democrats on the five-commissioner FCC, tweeted Wednesday.
In response, Clinton tweeted: “You go girl! This is important; costs will go up, & powerful companies will get more powerful. We can’t let it slip through the cracks.”
You go girl! This is important; costs will go up, & powerful companies will get more powerful. We can’t let it slip through the cracks. https://t.co/js4agpzKeS
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 22, 2017
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, announced Tuesday that the agency would vote on Dec. 12 to undo the Obama-era regulations which prevent Internet service providers like Verizon and AT&T from charging more for certain services, like Netflix for example, and blocks them from slowing down or speeding up content.
This was following a public comment period in which 22 million comments were filed, most of which have been reported to be in favor of net neutrality. However, there are caveats. Not all comments are considered, as they need to make a legitimate legal argument. There has also been a wave of controversy surrounding fake comments, which New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, also a Democrat, is investigating and wrote in an open letter Wednesday that the FCC has been unwilling to provide information that is “critical” to the probe.
Pai has long argued that repealing net neutrality will be good for business innovation and will reverse what he saw a government overreach when the then-Democrat-led FCC voted in 2015 to reclassify broadband Internet as a common carrier under Title II subject to regulation by the agency. Pai’s plan would see enforcement responsibility shifted to the Federal Trade Commission.
Net neutrality was not a major issue often brought up during the 2016 campaign. However, Clinton, who served as former President Barack Obama’s first secretary of state, has shown support for net neutrality in the past. She said she would vote for it back in 2015, calling it a “foot in the door,” and characterizing it as a starting point in the broader Internet regulation discussion.
