A federal judge ruled Tuesday that California may apply its harsh net neutrality law for the first time, paving the way for the state to ban Internet providers from blocking or blocking access to websites and applications that do not pay the premium service.
Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill in 2018, making California the first state to pass a net neutrality law. Proponents of the open internet hoped the law would encourage Congress and other states to follow suit. The Trump administration quickly sued to block the law, which prevented it from going into effect for years while the case was tied to the courts.
The Biden administration withdrew that lawsuit earlier this month. But in an independent lawsuit, the telecommunications industry asked a federal judge to continue blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied his request and allowed California to begin enforcing the law.
California Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and lawmaker, called the ruling “a huge victory for open Internet access, our democracy, and our economy.”
“The Internet is the center of modern life. We should all be able to decide for ourselves where we go on the Internet and how we access information,” Wiener said. “We can’t allow big companies to make those decisions for us.”
In a joint statement, several telecommunications industry associations said they would review the judge’s decision “before deciding on the next steps.” They urged Congress to establish rules of net neutrality for the country rather than relying on states to draft regulations on their own.
“A state-by-state approach to Internet regulation will confuse consumers and deter innovation, just as the importance of broadband for everyone has never been more evident,” the statement said. ‘Telecommunications and Cellular Internet Association, ACA Connects, Cable and Telecommunications Association and USTelecom.
California law was driven by the 2017 decision by the Federal Communications Commission to repeal nationwide net neutrality rules. The telecommunications industry fought hard against the bill, arguing that it would discourage companies from investing in faster Internet speeds.
But advocates say that without the rules, it would make it easier for ISPs to favor their own services, making it difficult for customers to access their competitors’ websites and applications.
The law seeks to prohibit ISPs from slowing down customer data flows based on the content they are viewing. It also prohibits providers from speeding up access to websites willing to pay a supplement for special treatment.
“The ability of an Internet service provider to block, slow down, or expedite content based on the user’s ability to pay for the service degrades the very idea of a competitive market and the open transfer of information to core of our increasingly digital and connected world, “said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.