CDT Continues to Challenge the FCC to Restore Net Neutrality to America

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has joined with other public interest groups, internet companies, industry trade organizations, states, and local governments to file opening briefs defending America’s net neutrality in Mozilla v. FCC. The briefs are the first wave of arguments in the litigation challenging the validity of the Commission’s 2017 order “Restoring Internet Freedom,” which removed the strong net neutrality protections put in place by the previous administration’s Open Internet Order. CDT believes both the procedure and substance of the Commission’s efforts to repeal those rules are invalid.

Stan Adams, open internet counsel for CDT stated “It is not just the net neutrality protections that are at stake in this case; the FCC would also give up its own ability to regulate the practices of ISPs in any meaningful way. Although the FCC’s policy reversal is disappointing on many levels, strong legal protections for the open internet will ultimately prevail.”

Both sides will file additional briefs between now and November 27, after which the Court will schedule oral arguments. It could be another year before the Court issues its opinion, which makes Congress’s efforts to use the Congressional Review Act to stop the repeal and reinstate the Open Internet Order protections the best way to restore net neutrality in America.