By What Authority

Can the Federal Communications Commission regulate the internet? Can it offer consumer protections for broadband subscribers? Can it regulate the content found on social media sites? These questions, some of which are decades-old and some more recent, have taken new twists of late as the FCC concurrently considers 1) the impact of its 2017 decision to repeal net neutrality rules and 2) its oversight role over digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The FCC’s number one job is to ensure that all Americans have access to the communications networks and the lawful content of their choosing over those networks. But the current FCC majority has chosen not to use its authority to ensure it can deliver on that job. Rather, it is going to inject itself into online content moderation debates.