The US Senate votes in favor of restoring Net Neutrality rules

17. May 2018

On June 11, anti-net-neutrality is set to take effect in the USA. In a resolution, the Senate has now declared itself in favour of its preservation. The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted narrowly (52 to 47) to reverse the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision in December 2017 to repeal net neutrality rules. Three Republicans voted with all 47 Democrats and two Democratic-leaning senators to back the measure.

The FCC resolution is under the rarely used Congressional Review Act. It is a law that allows Congress, with a simple-majority vote in both houses, to repeal new regulations by federal agencies within 60 legislative days of implementation. Despite the Senate’s passing of the resolution, the measure is unlikely to be approved by the House of Representatives because at least two dozen Republicans must vote against the party line.

Net neutrality is the concept that internet service providers (or governments) treat all data on the internet the same regardless of content, user, platform, application or device. Network neutrality prevents all internet service providers from slowing down connections for people attempting to access certain sites, apps and services, and blocking legal content.

Category: General · USA
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