11/02/2026
Several states have net neutrality laws that prevent blocking and throttling of traffic, including California, Oregon, Washington, and Maine.
"For two decades, Democratic commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission have been trying to regulate the internet, using a doctrine known as “net neutrality.” But their attempts to impose their regulatory authority on the internet ended on Jan. 2 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit unanimously struck down the FCC’s net neutrality regulations, which would have reclassified internet service providers as common carriers subject to public-utility-style regulation." - The Mackinac Center for Public Policy
But what is net neutrality and why is it important?
"What is it?
Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) must handle all internet traffic the same way, so that no lawful website or app can be blocked, slowed down, or pushed ahead of its competitors because of who owns it or because its owner pays the ISP for priority. The rules that enforce this principle draw arguments for and against them. The debate has divided regulators, ISPs, technology companies, and consumer groups for two decades, and US federal rules were adopted in 2015, repealed in 2017, restored in 2024, and struck down in January 2025.
Why is it important?
It creates room for innovation and healthy competition. It gives smaller players a chance to grow and compete with more established businesses and industry giants. Without net neutrality and the level playing field it creates, websites such as YouTube, Netflix, or Facebook might never have grown into what they are today — internet traffic could have just been dominated by corporations that paid ISPs for “fast lanes” to push smaller competitors out.
It supports free expression online. With the rules in place, an ISP has no say over which viewpoints its customers can access, since it cannot block or slow a website because of its content. The flip side is that ISPs cannot filter out disinformation or illicit content — but that would have to be dealt with through the law anyway, whether net neutrality is regulated or not." - NordVPN
At PROTEC, we support a level playing field for all communities to have equal access to the internet and not have data throttled. Stay up to date on net neutrality issues, streaming issues, and more rights of way issues that effect local municipalities.
PROTEC is member supported. For membership information, please visit our website at https://www.protec-mi.org/
