On April 25, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to reinstate heavy-handed government regulations on the internet. The Biden FCC has been dead set on asserting broad new government powers over the internet using a law that was designed for telephone monopolies during the Great Depression. This is a solution in search of a problem, and it’s likely to create problems where none exist.

In 2015, the Obama FCC implemented a nearly identical net neutrality scheme to the one that was just approved. It didn’t go well. It opened the door to a host of new regulations, including price controls. Broadband investment declined, which was especially bad news for rural areas like South Dakota where investment is still needed to expand access to broadband. 

A Republican-led FCC repealed the onerous Obama rules in 2017 – a move that was met with near hysteria on the left. We were told it would be the end of the internet as we know it, that the internet would slow to a crawl, and that we would get the internet one word at a time. Of course, none of this came to pass. In fact, internet speeds have since gotten faster. Competition has increased. And the internet remains a vehicle for free and open discourse.

The United States has long taken a light-touch approach to internet regulation, which has allowed the internet to flourish. But if the Biden FCC gets its way, I’m concerned those days might be numbered. These rules could again depress broadband investment, denying needed investment in areas of our country that lack adequate internet access. They could also imperil our position at the forefront of internet innovation, and they could spell the end of the free and open internet that the FCC is supposed to protect. 

Former members of the Obama administration have even admitted that these new rules are likely to be struck down in court – as they should be. The prospect of failure is all the more reason the FCC should not be spending its energies on resurrecting a failed exercise in heavy-handed regulation. It should be focused on addressing real challenges, not working to grow the government’s reach into yet another area of Americans’ lives without good reason.

While the FCC focuses its energies on problems that do not exist, Congress has recently taken action against a very real online threat. Currently, if it so chooses, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is able to gain unlimited access to the data of American TikTok users. The implications of this risk are clear: China can access Americans’ information and shape their experience on the app to their own ends. Like many Americans, I find this deeply concerning. 

I’m proud that Congress recently passed a law to require TikTok to be sold to a company without ties to the CCP or be banned in the United States. It emerged recently that the Chinese Embassy in Washington actually lobbied congressional staff against legislation to force the sale of TikTok. This shocking revelation just confirms the value that the Chinese government places on its ability to access Americans’ information through the app, and it confirms that passing this law is the right thing to do.

As the internet has permeated more areas of our daily lives, it is critical that it remains free, open, and accessible and that your information remains safe online. I will continue working to ensure these principles guide the internet and online platforms through whatever innovation might come next.