Washington became the first state to pass a law to protect net neutrality, after Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill March 5 intended to prevent internet service providers from blocking or slowing online content in the state.
With this law, Washington joins a growing group of states that have , after the Republican-majority Federal Communications Commission repealed federal net neutrality protections in December. The Obama-era regulations prevented internet service providers from blocking or slowing apps, websites, and other online content, and from engaging in 鈥減aid prioritization"鈥攅ssentially creating 鈥渇ast鈥� and 鈥渟low鈥� lanes for internet content based on the ability to pay.
The new law reinstates these protections in Washington, and requires internet service providers doing business in the state to follow these regulations. The bill saw bipartisan support in the state legislature, passing with votes of 93 to 5 in the House and 35 to 14 in the Senate.
Inslee, a Democrat, addressed net neutrality鈥檚 relevance to K-12 schools in a statement Monday. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the power of an open internet. It allows a student in Washington to connect with researchers all around the world鈥娾�攐r a small business to compete in the global marketplace,鈥� he said.
School technology and library associations have raised concerns that internet service providers may restrict and slow internet service to schools and districts鈥攎any of which , and wouldn鈥檛 be able to comparison shop if their connection slows.
They鈥檝e also said that the FCC鈥檚 decision could limit the materials and tools that districts have access to. Smaller content providers and publishers that offer free, open educational resources may be priced out of the market if internet service providers are allowed to charge for faster delivery speeds.
鈥淏efore the FCC proposed changing net neutrality rules, this was not an issue,鈥� said Tara Lee, a spokesperson for the governor, in an email to Education Week. 鈥淏ut now, carriers can choose to prioritize paid content over freely available content and schools really are at risk.鈥�
(For more on the likelihood of internet service providers choosing to slow service to schools, see Sean Cavanagh鈥檚 article on .)
The executive orders to maintain net neutrality in January, and at least 25 other states are considering bills to reinstate protections, .
It鈥檚 unclear if these state rules are enforceable: A provision in the net neutrality repeal specifically prohibits states and localities from putting in place policies that contradict the FCC鈥檚 order. But it鈥檚 also possible that states could successfully challenge this provision in court. The FCC has to block state laws regulating internet service providers鈥� activities.
Photo: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs a bill on March 5 in Olympia, Wash., that makes Washington the first state to set up its own net-neutrality requirements in response to the Federal Communications Commission鈥檚 recent repeal of Obama-era rules. --Ted S. Warren/AP
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