Republican-led legislation would uphold principles of net neutrality

Net neutrality has been a hot topic in the United States these past few months, one that many civilian groups, corporations, and political leaders have been fighting to address. The latest such attempt comes from the Republican Party in the form of new draft legislation that, while more friendly towards telecom giants than what many Democrats would like, still remains true to the ideals of net neutrality. 

Draft legislation being circulated by Republicans would uphold the tenets of net neutrality, but gives ISPs some leeway by saying each provision is “subject to reasonable network management.” It would also limit what the Federal Communications Commission can do regarding net neutrality—like reclassifying broadband as a telecom service. Specifically, the bill would “amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure Internet openness, to prohibit blocking lawful content and non-harmful devices, to prohibit throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency of network management practices, [and] provide that broadband shall be considered to be an information service.” Except for that last bit, the bill is largely in line with what the FCC and Democrats have been requesting. Each item, however, has a caveat: it’s banned, but only subject to “reasonable network management.”