President Barack Obama addressed net neutrality Monday, asking the Federal Communications Commission to ensure people can equally gain full access to high-speed Internet services, according to a White House press release.
Obama asked the FCC to set up certain rules that would prevent Internet service providers from blocking websites from consumers, providing different Internet speeds for different pay rates and confusing consumers about regulations.
The FCC tried to set up regulations to protect net neutrality four years ago. It failed after the court had problems with the FCC’s legal approach, not the necessity of these regulations, according to the statement.
The president pointed out that the right for everybody to have the same Internet services was the basis for the dynamic U.S. digital economy and that it had created many jobs.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., voiced her support for the president’s message in a statement and emphasized the importance of an even playing field in Internet service.
“Net neutrality is a principle that is at the heart of an open, accessible and free Internet,” Baldwin said in the release.
However, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., released a statement “strongly” opposing the president's message.
“Last week, voters across the country rejected the president’s regulatory policies that have made this economic recovery the weakest in more than half a century,” Johnson said in the release. “Ignoring this, today the president has decided to go after one sector of our economy that has continued to flourish: the Internet.”
