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WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, which established Title II Net Neutrality protections for consumers. Today's decision represents a shocking abdication of the FCC's responsibility over telecommunications and consumer protection, leaving Big Telecom in complete control over what citizens can do and see online.
The decision is a significant blow to the future of the Internet, free expression, democracy, and innovation. The FCC's new framework allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to demand fees for prioritization, to throttle content and to even outright block websites -- be they from competitors or because they don't like, or don't approve of, the content.
"Today's vote is a needless assault on the Internet billions of people across the world have come to depend on," said Katy Anderson, Digital Rights Advocate at OpenMedia.
"Internet users gravitated online because of the freedom and openness it provides -- not because they're looking for another version of Cable TV. The FCC's plan turns the Internet's level playing field into a tiered system with fast lanes and slow lanes -- further separating those who pay, and those who can't."
Reversing Net Neutrality will also deeply harm the innovation the Internet has been known for from its inception. Small businesses and entrepreneurs with great ideas will no longer be able to compete on the merit of those ideas, instead corporations and favoured business partners of ISPs will have their web traffic prioritized, and medium-sized and smaller competitors will be slowed down or outright blocked completely.
"This means that the next revolutionary idea -- the next Facebook, the next Netflix -- will likely never be able to get off the ground. The loss of Net Neutrality will have a slow, insidious impact on the innovative spirit we've come to expect, and love, from the Internet," Anderson continued.
The repeal of Net Neutrality has been slammed by both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Just this week a new poll was released showing that 83 per cent of Americans oppose the plan. The report, from the University of Maryland, highlighted that as many as three in four Republicans were against the plan, which was put forward by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai shortly after he was appointed.
"If Pai thinks he can get away with this, he's been ignoring reality. Net Neutrality is a non-partisan issue and millions of people have been taking action, including more than 20 million comments submitted to the FCC and over one million calls made directly to Congress. Today does not mark the end of our fight for an open Internet, but renews the battle as all eyes and pressure now turn to Congress," said Anderson.
The extremely unpopular ruling is expected to face several challenges, including lawsuits from digital rights advocacy groups and calls for investigation in light of alarming procedural deficiencies. The majority of Democratic members of Congress called for Pai to delay or stop this vote, including at least five Republicans, and on Wednesday18 attorneys general joined the call to delay the vote.
OpenMedia is a community-driven organization that works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We operate as a civic engagement platform to educate, engage, and empower Internet users to advance digital rights around the world.
"To honor her legacy and life, let's do everything we can in this moment to create the just world that everyone deserves," said former Texas lawmaker Wendy Davis.
Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and longtime champion of women's rights and other progressive causes, died on Monday at the age of 67. The cause was an aggressive brain cancer that had been diagnosed in 2023.
Richards' husband and three children confirmed her death in a statement posted on social media.
Richards, the daughter of forner Democratic Texas Gov. Ann Richards, had an early introduction to progressive politics. At 16 she worked on a campaign to elect Sarah Waddington, the lawyer who argued in favor of abortion rights before the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, and in college she helped push Brown University to divest from companies that supported apartheid in South Africa.
After years of labor organizing work, Richards became the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She sat at the helm of the organization for 12 years, leading it as it became more vocal in electoral politics and fought state-level battles against abortion restrictions.
She was the national face of the organization and spoke frequently on its behalf at political events and galas, but also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with abortion rights supporters at pivotal moments in the fight against right-wing efforts to attack reproductive justice.
In 2013, after then-Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D-10) made national headlines by spending 13 hours filibustering an omnibus bill that contained a host of anti-abortion measures, Richards rallied supporters in the state Capitol to yell loud enough to halt the Senate debate over the legislation—a move that Republican lawmakers later blamed for the bill's failure.
"That was vital," Dave Cortez of Occupy Austin toldThe Texas Tribune. "Her support really helped put it all together."
Davis called Richards "a light, a champion, a force for good" on Monday.
Calling her death "a heartbreaking loss," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said the former Planned Parenthood leader "spent her life on the front lines, fighting for women's rights throughout this country."
After leaving Planned Parenthood in 2018, Richards co-founded the progressive political mobilization group Supermajority and toured the nation speaking out against President Donald Trump's nomination of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
She also cofounded the chatbot Charley, which connects people seeking abortion care with reproductive health organizations, and Abortion in America, a project that publishes the personal stories of people who have obtained abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022.
"The only thing people respond to and remember are stories," Richards told The New York Times last October. "We have to figure out: How do you catch the attention of people that, even if they could find the article, don't have 20 minutes to read it?"
Richards' death was announced just hours before Trump, who has bragged about his role in overturning Roe and mocked the family of one woman who died after being unable to receive standard care under Georgia's abortion ban, was to be sworn in for his second term in office.
"As if today wasn't bad enough, the passing of Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood leader, is beyond tragic for all women in U.S," said former Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.). "Her powerful voice for women's freedom has been silenced. Rest in power, dear friend."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Richards "modeled guts and grit in public service, showing courage and fortitude beyond words as a champion of women's reproductive freedom."
In their statement, Richards' family asked that supporters who wish to honor her listen to "some New Orleans jazz, gather with friends and family over a good meal, and remember something she said a lot over the last year: It's not hard to imagine future generations one day asking, 'When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do?'"
"The only acceptable answer is: Everything we could."
Other critics of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency have also argued that it runs afoul of regulations governing federal advisory committees.
The public interest law firm National Security Counselors says it will file a lawsuit in federal court challenging the "Department of Government Efficiency," a nongovernmental entity spearheaded by President-elect Donald Trump to help advise on cuts to government spending and regulation, within minutes of Trump's swearing in, according to The Washington Post.
The complaint alleges that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) meets the requirements to be considered a "federal advisory committee"—groups that are known as FACAs—and therefore must follow regulations outlined in a 1972 law governing how FACAs operate. FACAs must, for example, file a charter with Congress, keep regular minutes of meetings, and ensure meetings are open to the public. DOGE doesn't appear to have taken those steps, according to the Post.
The watchdog group Public Citizen has also criticized DOGE for failing to adhere to FACA requirements, which stipulate that "membership of the advisory committee [must] be fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed by the advisory committee." To help remedy this, the co-presidents of Public Citizen—Lisa Gilbert and Robert Weissman—last week requested that the Trump transition team co-chairs appoint them to serve on DOGE.
"As things stand, DOGE's membership falls far short of satisfying FACA's fair-balance requirement," the two wrote. They also point out that the duo tapped to lead DOGE, billionaire and GOP megadonor Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both stand to potentially benefit financially from lessened federal regulation. CBS Newsreported Sunday that Ramaswamy is expected to depart DOGE and announce a bid for Ohio governor.
Kel McClanahan, the executive director of National Security Counselors who authored the lawsuit, told the Post that "we're not trying to say DOGE can't exist. Advisory committees like DOGE have been around for decades. We're just saying that DOGE can't exist without following the law."
Another source the Post spoke with, Sam Hammond of the Foundation for American Innovation—who has been a fan of DOGE's efforts—told the paper that until Trump actually treats DOGE as a FACA, it doesn't need to follow FACA reporting rules. "DOGE isn't a federal advisory committee because DOGE doesn't really exist. DOGE is a branding exercise, a shorthand for Trump's government reform efforts," he said.
But early January reporting from the Post indicates that DOGE is more than just a branding exercise. Citing anonymous sources, the outlet reported that aides with DOGE have spoken to staffers at more than a dozen federal agencies to "begin preliminary interviews that will shape the tech executives' enormous ambitions to tame Washington's sprawling bureaucracy." There has also been a hiring sprint. DOGE is aiming to have nearly 100 staff in place by Trump's inauguration, according to the paper.
"Trump's White House is government by the billionaires, for the billionaires," said the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
While President-elect Donald Trump is expected to hail the "start of a thrilling new era of national success" during his inaugural speech on Monday, progressives said the presence of some of the nation's most powerful billionaires at the event signals that the incoming administration's agenda will prioritize the success the country's wealthiest.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are among the billionaires set to attend the inauguration ceremony. The trio will "have a prominent spot," according toNBC News, "seated together on the platform with other notable guests, including Trump's Cabinet nominees and elected officials."
“Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos know a thing or two about screwing over workers. It's no wonder they're sitting ringside for the inauguration of a man who's built a career out of cheating workers, ripping off families, and skipping out on paying taxes," Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, said in a statement Monday, characterizing the mega-rich attendees as "billionaires' row."
"The billionaires in attendance today have one goal: to get even richer by gutting our health care, public education, and Social Security," Mitchell added. "We're going to expose their grift, and bring new people with us along the way, until working people are the ones with the power, not billionaire bosses."
"Lobbyists and corporations have donated over $200 million to today's inauguration of Donald Trump—a small price to pay for buying off history's most corrupt grifter-in-chief."
A number of other high-profile billionaires are expected to attend the president-elect's swearing-in ceremony, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Apple CEO Tim Cook—both of whom donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, which brought in record-shattering donations.
"Trump's White House is government by the billionaires, for the billionaires," Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement ahead of the inauguration. "Lobbyists and corporations have donated over $200 million to today's inauguration of Donald Trump—a small price to pay for buying off history's most corrupt grifter-in-chief. On Day One, Trump has shown us who he really is—a fighter for the wealthy, not the working class."
In addition to the outside billionaires backing Trump's second administration, which is pushing for another round of tax breaks for the rich and large corporations, the president-elect has proposed staffing his White House with at least 13 billionaires—from education secretary nominee Linda McMahon to treasury secretary pick Scott Bessent.
Including Musk—who is set to co-lead an advisory commission tasked with gutting federal regulations and spending—the combined net worth of Trump's incoming administration could exceed $460 billion, according toABC News.
In a Fox Newsop-ed published Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote that "we must not allow billionaire oligarchs to buy our government."
"Trump has repeatedly claimed that he wants the Republican Party to represent the needs of working people," Sanders continued. "Well, you don't do that by surrounding yourself with the richest people in the world and putting 13 billionaires in your Cabinet, many of whom have a direct financial stake in the industries they are charged with regulating."