Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai released a statement Wednesday criticizing the “so-called ‘Save the Internet’ Act.”
“Government regulation of the Internet is a solution in search of a problem,” Pai wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to the @FCC’s market-based approach, today we have a free and open Internet, faster speeds, more fiber deployment, and more infrastructure investment.”
Government regulation of the Internet is a solution in search of a problem. Thanks to the @FCC’s market-based approach, today we have a free and open Internet, faster speeds, more fiber deployment, and more infrastructure investment. Statement: https://t.co/LhLZg4DpwC pic.twitter.com/oQUSWuKcDz
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) April 10, 2019
Pai’s statement was in direct response to the House of Representatives passing the act in a 232-190 vote that afternoon. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the bill the month before. 197 out of 235 Democrats co-sponsored the bill, which would reinstate the Obama administration’s “net neutrality” laws.
The House just voted to restore #NetNeutrality! Now the ball is in @SenateMajLdr’s hands. @SenateGOP: stop doing the bidding of massive broadband corporations, listen to the American people, and bring the Save The Internet Act to the floor for a vote. #SaveTheNet
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) April 10, 2019
“With the Save the Internet Act, Democrats are honoring the will of the people,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in March.
Ian Walters, communications director for the American Conservative Union (ACU), told Townhall in an interview Monday that net neutrality doesn’t so much ensure freedom from bandwidth and content restrictions by Internet service providers as it puts government in control of the World Wide Web.
“In the net neutrality aspect of it, it’s who’s in charge here,” he said. “Is government going to be in charge or are we going to have an Internet that is going to innovate and [adhere to] consumers first?”
Walters promised that the ACU would “double weigh” votes made by House congressmen on the “Save the Internet” Act in next year’s “Ratings of Congress” report.
Pai argued in his press release that getting rid of net neutrality improved Internet speeds and accessibility in 2018.
The same people who told you in December 2017 that the Internet was about to end and that you’d have to pay $5 per tweet now want to put the government in charge of the Internet to ”save” it. pic.twitter.com/qUHpbAjOeV
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) April 10, 2019
After the FCC repealed net neutrality laws back in 2017, The Daily Caller released a video on YouTube, where Ajit Pai argued that removing the laws would “restore internet freedom” and wouldn’t prevent users from continuing to practice their daily activities online. The video garnered over 1.5 million views but acquired ironic meme status.
The “Save the Internet” Act will go to the Senate for consideration.