Net Neutrality Rules

February 26, 2015

In November 2014, President Obama publicly called on the FCC to reclassify broadband internet under Title II of the Communications Act, treating it as a common carrier subject to net neutrality regulations. The FCC, an independent regulatory agency, adopted the rules in February 2015. The episode raised significant concerns about executive influence over independent agencies designed to be insulated from political pressure. While the FCC technically acted independently, Obama's unprecedented public pressure campaign blurred the line between executive direction and agency independence. The D.C. Circuit upheld the rules in United States Telecom Association v. FCC (2016), but the constitutional tension centered on whether the President effectively directed an independent agency's rulemaking and whether the Communications Act authorized reclassification of internet services.