With cable and telecom companies suing the federal government over net neutrality rules approved in February by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), The Internet Association, representing companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon filed a legal brief backing the new rules. Congressional Democrats also filed a brief supporting net neutrality. (The Huffington Post, September 21, 2015, by Dana Liebelson)
The Writers Guild is backing the FCC rules arguing that telecom arguments that the rules violate the First Amendment are ironic when in fact the providers are simply there to deliver the speech rather than to initiate the speech. The guild sees the rules providing new opportunities for writers and filmmakers in defiance of corporate monopoly over speech of traditional media platforms. (Variety, September 21, 2015, by Ted Johnson)
The FCC says that to claim that net neutrality rules violate the service provider’s First Amendment rights is tantamount to claiming “…your TV or radio have their own constitutionally protected rights to free speech.”(Consumerist, September 18, 2015, by Chris Morran)