Here’s why critics are slamming the GOP’s net neutrality bill

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that she introduced the “Open Internet Preservation Act,” which she claims would “ensure there is no blocking” and “no throttling,” of internet traffic. However, critics fear that Blackburn’s bill would only enhance some of the fears internet activists have had before and after the Federal Communications Commission voted, along party lines, to dismantle the 2015 Open Internet Order, essentially killing net neutrality rules. Net neutrality is a founding principle of the internet that ensures all internet traffic is treated equally. Craig Aaron, the CEO of Free Press Action Fund, said Blackburn’s bill “opens the door to rampant abuse through paid prioritization schemes” that would “split the internet into fast lanes for the richest companies and slow lanes for everyone else.”