Obama speaks at Cross Campus in Santa Monica, California.<a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/520342029789061120">The White House</a>
Did President Obama just signal that the Federal Communication Commission will preserve net neutrality? Speaking this afternoon at Cross Campus, a tech incubator in Santa Monica’s Silicon Beach, he had this to say (emphasis mine) about the FCC’s proposed changes to net neutrality rules:
I made a commitment very early on that I am unequivocally committed to net neutrality. I think that it is what has unleashed the power of the internet and we don’t want to lose that or clog up the pipes…I know one of the things that people are most concerned about is paid prioritization, the notion that some folks can pay a little more money and get better service, more exclusive access to customers though the internet. That’s something I am opposed to. I was opposed to it when I ran, I continue to be opposed to it now. Now, the FCC is an independent agency. They came out with some preliminary rules that I think the netroots and a lot of the folks in favor of net neutrality were concerned with. My appointee [to the FCC], Tom Wheeler, knows my position. I can’t…call him up and tell him exactly what to do. But what I’ve been clear about, what the White House has been clear about, is that we expect whatever final rules to emerge to make sure that we’re not creating two or three or four tiers of internet. That ends up being a big priority of mine.
Expecting the preservation of net neutrality is not the same as guaranteeing it. But this is the strongest indication yet that Obama won’t allow the FCC to push through its deeply unpopular plan to limit open access to the internet.
