Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
WASHINGTON — Sens. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz and 17 other senators challenged the Federal Communications Commission's "Digital Discrimination" rule by filing a resolution that would strike it down if it is approved.
The FCC's rule is meant to prevent different levels of access to consumers, but opponents say the expansive new regulations will lead to government control over the internet.
Why it matters: Lee, R-Utah, along with Cruz, R-Texas, said that under the FCC's new order the federal government would have control over "nearly every aspect of the internet" and would also open up broadband providers to liability and uncertainty under a "disparate impact" standard.
- The press release announcing Lee and Cruz challenging the order detailed, "The FCC's order, which ignores the plain language of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will harm broadband investment and undermine the goal of promoting high-speed internet access for all Americans."
Context: The "Digital Discrimination" order outlines new rules that give the federal government access to facilitate equal access to a wide range of technologies.
- The order, approved in November 2023, says that "under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the FCC is required to adopt rules to ensure that all Americans have equal access to reliable, high-speed broadband services without discrimination based on the characteristics listed in the statute."
Those characteristics the FCC seeks to prevent digital discrimination against were:
- Income level
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Color
- Religion
- Natural origin
Factors at play: Lee and Cruz state that the aspects of the internet that will be under the government's jurisdiction in accordance with the FCC's order are:
- Broadband provider's deployment decisions, network reliability, network maintenance, equipment, pricing, promotional discounts, customer service, language options, credit checks, marketing and advertising, and more.
What they're saying: In a press release about his participation in challenging the FCC order, Lee said his position is to ensure that the internet will remain as a competitive marketplace for ideas without being subject to government whims.
- "It's a broad overreach that threatens to entangle the internet in red tape, jeopardizing the very innovation that has made it a cornerstone of modern life," Lee said.
Cruz explained in the same press release that despite the FCC admitting there's "little to no evidence of discrimination by broadband companies," the Biden administration is applying "government-mandated affirmative action and race-based pricing for broadband."
- Cruz said, "The only beneficiaries of the FCC's Orwellian 'equity' plan are overzealous government regulators who want to control the internet. This resolution will roll back FCC Democrats' unlawful power grab."
Who's involved: Co-sponsors of the challenge against the FCC include:
- Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
- Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C.
- Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan.
- Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas
- Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.
- Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho
- Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
- Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska
- Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
- Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
- Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.
- Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.
- Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.
- Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.
Reps. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter, R-Ga., and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., led 65 House Republicans in introducing a Congressional Review Act in a challenge against the FCC rule in January.
