2
January
2025
6th Circuit invalidates FCC’s recently reinstated net neutrality rules
Pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision from June 2024 overturning longstanding precedent on deferral to federal agencies in their promulgation of rules and regulations, on January 2, 2025, a three-judge panel on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacked the statutory authority to regulate broadband internet service providers (ISPs), invalidating the FCC’s net neutrality rule that was partially reinstated under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Without the FCC’s enforcement of net neutrality, the ability of private carriers to slow, block, or otherwise restrict access to internet content significantly undermines principles of openness and permissionless—principles that mirror the very ethos of decentralized blockchain networks. Ultimately, this change and the policy efforts of the Trump administration could jeopardize the frictionless flow of on-chain database transactions and access to various blockchain networks and dApps and could even threaten the innovation and adoption of AI technologies.