Republicans are pushing to update the law that gives the Federal Communications Commission the authority to regulate the telecommunications industry in the age of fast-growing technology.
The Communications Act was first signed into law in 1934 and was updated a handful of times over the years, the last time being 1996. Republicans now want to see the law updated again to reflect changes that have occurred in the last 20 years.
"There are way more moving parts now than there were back then," Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said last month, reports The Hill. "We think it's time for Congress to be heard from again.
"You know, in the 1996 [rewrite], I think the Internet, if it was mentioned at all, we maybe mentioned it one or two times. And so it's a whole different world, and we think that the policies, the regulations that apply to the industry today need to be updated, need to be modernized."
Republicans attempted to have the law updated in 2015 but they did not succeed.
The debate around net neutrality, a principle that would force all content on the Internet to be treated equally, will likely be at the center of any debate dealing with an update of the Communications Act. Net neutrality would treat broadband service like a public utility — something the majority of Republicans are against.
Last year, Republicans blasted the FCC's net neutrality rules and said they will allow the government closer access to Americans' private lives.
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