California Senate passes bill to reinstate net neutrality rules

The California Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would reinstate the net neutrality rules the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal last year.
State senators voted in favor of the bill 23-12, The Verge reported. The measure will now go to the state Assembly.
“Under President Obama, our country was moving in the right direction on guaranteeing an open internet, but the Trump-led FCC pulled the rug out from under the American people by repealing net neutrality protections,” Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener said in a statement last month. Wiener wrote the net neutrality bill.
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In March, Washington became the first state to pass its own net neutrality rules following the FCC’s repeal.
However, the FCC included a provision in its repeal that blocks states from passing their own rules, setting the stage for a legal battle over the regulations.
The Obama-era regulation stopped broadband service providers from blocking or slowing down websites or creating internet “fast lanes,” in an attempt to create an open internet.
Democrats have widely decried the net neutrality repeal and attorneys general in nearly two dozen states have sued to overturn the order.
The Senate passed a bill a bill earlier this month to overturn the agency’s repeal.
The FCC announced earlier this month that the rules will end on June 11.
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