New York became the second state to push back against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of net neutrality by enacting its own executive order.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order Wednesday that requires state officials to honor the principles of net neutrality, according to The Washington Post. At its roots, net neutrality was a policy that upheld internet equality, requiring service providers to treat web traffic equally instead of throttling internet speeds in favor of particular websites.
The order renders internet service providers (ISP’s) with state contracts to reinstate specific ground rules of net neutrality. Cuomo’s order reads, “ISPs will not block, throttle, or prioritize internet content or applications or require that end users pay different or higher rates to access specific types of content or applications.” Cuomo made it clear on Twitter that New York state is behind the idea of net neutrality, and will do anything to circumvent the FCC’s “dangerous ruling” to rescind of Obama-era internet protections.
The FCC’s dangerous ruling goes against the core values of our democracy, and New York will do everything in our power to protect net neutrality and the free exchange of ideas.
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 24, 2018
On Monday, Montana became the first state to trailblaze almost identical provisions. The state’s governor, Steve Bullock, posted a “template” of the Montana order on Twitter and said he would provide a copy of his orders to anyone who asked. “This is simple plug and play for other states to do as well,” he said, and by the looks of things, other states may not be far behind from implementing their own net-neutrality orders.
Any city or state can do this. We made you a template: https://t.co/yYgQTWdat1 #NetNeutrality https://t.co/dz3BFiN0uN
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) January 22, 2018
Adding to the pressure is the fact that 21 states sued the FCC earlier this month in an attempt to defend net neutrality. Many believe New York’s enormous population, which is rapidly approaching 20 million, could potentially act as leverage in the battle for internet equality.
Despite threats of litigation by the FCC, more than a dozen states have started legislative responses to the FCC’s ruling according to the site GovTech.com.
The battle for internet equality may be far from over.
H/T Washington Post
