Breitbart reported in 2018 that internet speeds in the United States went up sharply after net neutrality rules were repealed under then-President Donald Trump.

Yet according to the website, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just reversed that decision and put the Obama-era policy back in effect. 

Paid prioritization of lawful content by internet service providers banned

The government body announced its move in a press release on Thursday, unveiling "a national standard by which it can ensure that broadband internet service is treated as an essential service."

"Internet service providers will again be prohibited from blocking, throttling, or engaging in paid prioritization of lawful content, restoring the rules that were upheld by the D.C. Circuit in 2016," it explained.

The FCC will also now "have the ability to revoke the authorizations of foreign-owned entities who pose a threat to national security to operate broadband networks in the U.S."

What's more, the entity pledged to monitor internet service outages and "play an active role" in instances "when workers cannot telework, students cannot study, or businesses cannot market their products."

Trump FCC appointee slams "power grab by the administrative state"

Thursday's announcement was opposed by critics, including Brendan Carr, who was appointed to the FCC by former President Trump.

The FCC just voted 3-2 in favor of President Biden’s plan for increasing government control of the Internet.

It’s an unlawful power grab sold in the name of “net neutrality.”

I delivered this statement in opposition: https://t.co/HOT3Lqoqrg

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 25, 2024

Carr slammed the plan to introduce net neutrality during an interview with Breitbart earlier this month, calling it a "power grab by the administrative state."

He voiced further opposition in a statement submitted to the FCC, noting how "[t]he Internet in America has thrived in the absence of 1930s command and control regulation by the government."

"Indeed, bipartisan consensus emerged early on that the government should not regulate the Internet like Ma Bell’s copper line telephone monopoly," Carr added.

"One of the greatest hoaxes in regulatory history"

Carr recalled how when the FCC abandoned net neutrality under Trump, "proponents of greater government control flooded the zone with apocalyptic rhetoric."

"Media outlets and politicians mindlessly parroted their claims. They predicted 'the end of the Internet as we know it' and that 'you’ll get the Internet one word at a time,'" he continued.

"Consumers would have to pay to reach websites. None of it happened. Americans were subjected to one of the greatest hoaxes in regulatory history," he complained.