Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Hamza Shaban in Washington Post.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia filed the first major lawsuit Tuesday to block the repeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules. Those rules had prohibited Internet providers from slowing down or blocking websites. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is leading the suit, said that the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates federal law.
The multi-state lawsuit comes just a day after Democrats in the Senate said they were inching closer to the votes needed for a legislative measure to help overturn the FCC’s rules. The resolution aims to reverse the FCC's decision and block the agency from passing similar measures in the future. It has garnered the support of all 49 Democratic senators as well as one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Tuesday’s lawsuit, which includes California, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois seized on that momentum, and represents another avenue for supporters of net neutrality to undo its repeal.
Net neutrality rules were dismantled in a December vote led by Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Republicans had argued that the existing rules were stymied industry investment, while Democrats maintained that they provided served as a vital consumer protection.
“An open internet – and the free exchange of ideas it allows – is critical to our democratic process,” said Schneiderman in a statement. “The repeal of net neutrality would turn internet service providers into gatekeepers – allowing them to put profits over consumers while controlling what we see, what we do, and what we say online."