Net neutrality still dead, but judges rule that FCC can’t preempt state laws

(credit: Getty Images | Kagenmi)

A federal appeals court today upheld the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of net neutrality rules, but said that the FCC cannot preempt state net neutrality laws.

"We uphold the 2018 Order, with two exceptions," the judges' ruling said. "First, the Court concludes that the Commission has not shown legal authority to issue its Preemption Directive, which would have barred states from imposing any rule or requirement that the Commission 'repealed or decided to refrain from imposing' in the Order or that is 'more stringent' than the Order." The FCC "ignored binding precedent" when making its preemption order, and "that failure is fatal" to the preemption, judges wrote.

This is a big win for California and other states that passed their own net neutrality laws after the FCC repeal. California agreed to delay enforcement of its net neutrality law until after litigation is fully resolved, so the state likely won't enforce the law just yet. But after appeals in the FCC case are exhausted, we could see California and other states enforcing net neutrality rules that prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or throttling lawful Internet traffic and from prioritizing traffic in exchange for payment.

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