What Can Cities and States Do About Net Neutrality?

When the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality regulations, it went one step further: It banned state and local governments from taking their own action to preserve net neutrality within their borders. It’s a preemption effort that isn’t sitting well with local leaders across the country. Already, states and local governments say they’re preparing to sue the FCC. This could be an uphill battle: The FCC has authority over interstate communication laws, and Republican commissioners cite the Constitution's Commerce Clause to support their case. The agency has preempted laws in favor of cities before.

Aside from legal challenges, there are a few ways that cities and states can preserve some elements of net neutrality rules if they want to, but it’ll take some investment in infrastructure. One example is the more than 500 communities that have built publicly owned broadband networks. But there are other, simpler ways to get a similar result. If cities are preempted from passing laws or regulations around net neutrality, they can still enter into contractual agreements with providers—but the city has to be able to provide something for the companies to make that happen.