Former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler Says The Internet Needs Regulation

A Q&A with former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler. 

When asked, "The FCC approved the Open Internet Order while you were chair, which imposed network neutrality as a check on the centralizing power of broadband networks. But it only covers the carriers, not the platforms. Do we need net neutrality for platforms too?" Wheeler responded, "I think the regulators need to think of the totality of the digital economic environment... There are two basic concepts that I think are universal to both networks and platforms and that we need regulations to protect. One is the duty to deal....requirement that essential networks have nondiscriminatory access....The other is the duty to care. As the provider of a service to you, I have the responsibility to anticipate and mitigate harms that my service might cause." He continued, "Unfortunately what happens today is that the networks and platforms are making their own rules, and those are designed to advantage them. Where does the public interest get a seat at the table? That has to be in the form of new rules. That's what we were trying to do with net neutrality, that's what we were trying to do with the privacy rules we passed and Congress repealed. That's what we have to have in order to get some sort of equilibrium in the digital era."