Congress, Do No Harm

[Commentary] 2014 was a banner year for network neutrality. Except for this: Congress is now threatening to step in and stifle our momentum.

Cable and telecom lobbying inside the Beltway is having the intended effect: Some members of Congress are trying to preempt and stall the Federal Communication Commission’s work by introducing new and wholly unnecessary legislation. There’s absolutely no reason for a partisan fight to erupt over net neutrality in Congress. The FCC doesn’t need new laws to craft strong but workable safeguards, and for that members have their predecessors to thank. The Communications Act is still completely sufficient: A bipartisan and forward-thinking Congress updated it in 1996 to guarantee Americans’ rights to nondiscriminatory means of communications in the digital age. Congressional attempts to undermine these long-established principles with bad legislation -- or to strip away the FCC’s ability to enforce them -- wouldn’t just gut net neutrality. They would endanger our basic rights to communicate and express ourselves freely -- values that are a cornerstone to our democracy and a free society.