Senate Passes Resolution to Preserve Net Neutrality; Brown Filed Petition to Force Senate Vote Today on Reinstating Net Neutrality Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) voted in favor of the reinstatement of net neutrality rules in order to protect Ohioans’ right to a free and open internet. Brown joined a petition last week to force a Senate vote overturning the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of net neutrality rules. The Senate voted today in favor of a resolution to preserve net neutrality rules. The resolution now moves to the House.
“Net neutrality is about keeping the internet accessible for small businesses, students, entrepreneurs, startups, and Ohioans looking for jobs,” said Brown. “We shouldn’t be putting internet access out of reach for Ohioans to pad the pockets of the biggest telecomm executives.”
In December, the FCC voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, which prohibits internet service providers from setting up internet fast and slow lanes and ensured they could not block or slow down internet traffic.
Brown has been fighting to keep the internet free and open from corporate interference:
- Brown and several of his colleagues introduced a resolution of disapproval to rescind FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s move and fully restore the Open Internet Order.
- Ahead of the repeal vote in December, Brown requested the FCC delay the vote in two separate letters, available here and here.
- Brown also lead his colleagues in urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to delay the planned December 14 vote to roll back net neutrality rules until an investigation be conducted after reports that bots filed hundreds of thousands of comments to the FCC during the rulemaking process.