Trump's FCC Killed Net Neutrality. Then Tried to Prevent States from Replacing It. 83% of Americans Opposed the Repeal.

Net neutrality rules had been established by the Obama FCC in 2015, classifying broadband internet providers as telecommunications services under Title II of the Communications Act — giving the FCC clear authority to prohibit blocking and throttling. The rules were the culmination of years of policy debate about whether the companies that provide internet access should be allowed to discriminate between different types of internet traffic. Ajit Pai, who had previously worked as an attorney for Verizon, was appointed FCC chairman by Trump in January 2017. Within months, he announced plans to repeal the rules.

The public comment process became one of the largest in FCC history: approximately 23 million comments were filed. Most opposed the repeal. The FCC's comment system was also attacked by fake comments — millions of comments were filed using stolen identities of real Americans, many of whom had no idea their names had been used. The FCC's own OIG investigated and found irregularities in the comment process. Pai dismissed the overwhelming opposition and voted to repeal on December 14, 2017. The repeal took effect in June 2018.

The FCC also included language in the repeal attempting to preempt state net neutrality laws — preventing states from filling the federal void. A federal appeals court struck down that preemption in 2019, allowing states to enact their own rules. California's net neutrality law, which went into effect in 2021, provided stronger protections than the Obama-era federal rules for Californians. But consumers in states without their own rules — which is most of the country — lost protection. Biden's FCC restored federal net neutrality rules in 2024. Trump's second-term FCC reversed them again.