At FCC, Obama-Era Rules on Chopping Block

When Congress voted to overturn internet privacy rules in March, the swift action by Republican lawmakers sent a clear message: They were just getting started. The next target is network neutrality, which is the guarantee that all internet content is equally accessible. That could be followed by cuts in broadband subsidies for low-income households and a relaxation in rules preventing media consolidation in local markets.

Republican regulators and lawmakers have been waiting for this moment. Coordinating across the government, they are putting several telecommunications and technology policies created during the Obama Administration on the chopping block. Already, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who was appointed to the agency by President Barack Obama and named to lead it by President Trump, has begun chipping away at the low-income broadband subsidy and net neutrality rules created by his Democratic predecessor.