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FCC to vote on restoration of Net Neutrality regulations

The FCC will hold an open meeting later in April 2024 to vote on the restoration of Net Neutrality standards and consumer protections.

TJ Denzer

April 4, 2024 7:58 AM

Image via FCC

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Perhaps one of the biggest blows to the progress of reliable and stable internet and consumer protections to go along with it was the rollback of Net Neutrality regulations under former FCC Chairperson and shoddy Santa impersonator Ajit Pai. Now, later this April, the current FCC will have its opportunity to undo the damage he did. A vote will be held to restore Net Neutrality regulations and consumer protections.

The FCC shared its intent to vote on Net Neutrality restoration in a press release from the organization put out this week. The organization’s Commissioners are set to meet on April 25, 2024 in an open meeting to discuss and vote on the topic.

If adopted, the proposal could target several key points in internet development, security, and consumer protection:

• Returning popular Net Neutrality protections such as restricting federal level ISPs from blocking, slowing down, or using paywalls for fast access to internet content.
• Provide better oversight for broadband outages
• Boost internet security of broadband networks
• Increase consumer protections, including creating better infrastructure to protect consumer data and respond to consumer threats
• Restore a widely accepted national standard of internet access and speed

The FCC has already been active in 2024, recently increasing the minimum requirement of “broadband speed” for the first time in almost a decade. With these moves, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s FCC appears to be mobilizing heavily to boost internet standards and regulations to a level long abandoned under the watch of the previous leadership. Hopefully, with the vote coming at the end of April, the FCC will make the move to ensure internet reliability and fairness for hundreds of millions of users who rely on it. Stay tuned for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.