The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has advocated for strong open internet protections to encourage innovation and facilitate greater communication. In that spirit, we appreciated the opportunity to express our concerns regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) put forth by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to roll back the net neutrality protections implemented under the Open Internet Order of 2015 (OIO).
In these reply comments, we respond to some of the claims raised by other commenters to support the NPRM. More specifically, we seek to clarify three underlying legal and policy misconceptions, focusing on assertions regarding the nature of the services provided by internet service providers (ISPs) and the scope of the relevant laws and regulations. First, we explain that the OIO does not restrict the use or development of non-BIAS offerings. Second, we demonstrate that the fact that ISPs “offer” services bundled with internet access does not change the fact that they mostly provide pure transmission. And finally, we illustrate that the classification of Broadband Internet Access Service (BIAS) as a telecommunications service does not necessitate the similar reclassification of edge providers with physical infrastructure.
On September 15, 2026, the Center for Democracy & Technology and Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus brief along with the Wikimedia Foundation in Meta Platforms v. Bonta, challenging California’s SB 976.
Not All Guardrails Are Created Equal: Comparing Content Safety and Copyright Filtering
As courts and policymakers work through questions about chatbot liability, they should be wary of analogies that flatten meaningful technical differences. Copyright filtering and safety intervention share real challenges around ambiguity and evasion, but they diverge in what each control must assess, how each manifests over the course of a conversation, and how much can be verified from the outside.
CDT Joins Letter Defending First Amendment Rights Amid Attack on Center for American Progress
The Center for Democracy & Technology joined more than 150 civil society, advocacy, and nonpartisan organizations in a joint statement led by Nonprofits Together supporting the Center for American Progress amid a recent legal action by the Trump administration. The statement emphasizes that independent organizations have a First Amendment right to publish evidence-based analysis and critique government policies, regardless of which administration is in power.
Op-Ed: France’s Constitutional Council Ruling Tests the Limits of Social Media Bans
Read our analysis the legal and policy significance of the Constitutional Council’s decision on ongoing social media age restriction and age assurance debates ahead of the most-anticipated EU-wide approach on child online safety due by December 2026.
