Pallone: Gutting Net Neutrality Protections is Bad for New Jersey

By Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr.

The internet is one of the most powerful engines of economic growth in New Jersey in the past quarter century. But that growth is now under attack by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) proposal to gut net neutrality protections and jeopardize the free and open internet. The FCC is expected to vote on the proposal on December 14th.

I see the economic power of the internet when I meet with small businesses around the state. Every entrepreneur tells me the same thing—they could not survive without a free and open internet. From bakers to bike shops, anyone with a new idea can start their own businesses and succeed by going online. With a working broadband connection, anyone can work from home, sell their own products online and connect with companies a world away.

It’s not just the business owners that benefit from an open internet either, so to do their employees. Half of New Jersey workers are employed by small businesses, and the other half likely looked online to find their jobs.

They can do that because the internet as we know it has been overseen by the FCC, which adopted strong net neutrality protections in 2015. These safeguards mean that people decide for themselves what they do online. This is just commonsense – you should be able to decide what videos you watch, which sites you read and which services you use. Nobody should be able to influence that choice – not the government and not the companies that run the networks.

That same commonsense approach also works for small businesses. Net neutrality ensures that any business, no matter how small, gets access to the same internet at the same speeds as giant corporate interests. The only limitation is their imagination—not their wallet.

And it’s paying off for small businesses and startups here in New Jersey. For instance, the House of Independents in Asbury Park is the venue for some of the best independent artists on the Jersey Shore. Their website allows fans to discover new artists by linking to songs and videos online.

But the Trump FCC is planning to walk away from its role of protecting consumers and small businesses online by gutting net neutrality protections.

Under the plan proposed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, broadband providers would be able to block some websites, speed up others, and charge extra for certain content. This plan would allow providers to create fast lanes for those who can pay and slow lanes for the rest of us. How can small businesses and startups compete if their websites are slower than the sites of larger companies? They can’t.

Without net neutrality rules, large corporate interests could also choke off conversations or content they don’t like while speeding up the content they do.

Imagine what would happen to the House of Independents if their customers had to pay a premium anytime they wanted to discover new music or if the artists had to pay more to get their videos to work. They would be at a steep disadvantage.


Chairman Pai tries to cast the fight for net neutrality as one between Silicon Valley behemoths and cable companies, but that is simply not the case. Small businesses and consumers here in New Jersey are outraged by the FCC’s plans to wipe out these critical protections. They are some of the millions of Americans from across the country who have written and called asking the FCC to stop its ill-conceived plan.

Pai argues that eliminating net neutrality will somehow lead to better broadband networks because broadband providers will invest in better services, but that is nonsense. If Republicans are serious about bringing faster broadband to more people, they should join me in supporting my LIFT America Act, which would provide federal dollars to expand broadband in unserved and underserved areas. This would ensure that everyone has access to the internet of the future without harming New Jersey.

Improving broadband for unserved and underserved Americans is not what the FCC’s plan to gut net neutrality is really about. Sadly, it’s just another example of this administration and this FCC taking from New Jersey to enrich their corporate cronies.

Now is the time to use the free and open internet to make our voices heard. We need to let the FCC know that gutting net neutrality is simply not acceptable for New Jersey.