President Donald Trump on Monday signed a joint resolution signifying the final step in repealing the Broadband privacy rules adopted under the Obama Administration. In a statement issued by the FCC, Chairman Ajit Pai stated that President Trump and Congress have appropriately invalidated one part of the Obama-era plan for regulating the Internet. “Those flawed privacy rules, which never went into effect, were designed to benefit one group of favored companies, not online consumers.” Chairman Pai also indicated that the FCC will be work with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to restore the FTC’s authority to police Internet service providers’ privacy practices. “We need to put America’s most experienced and expert privacy cop back on the beat. And we need to end the uncertainty and confusion that was created in 2015 when the FCC intruded in this space.” Commissioner Michael O’Reilly also issued a statement applauding President Trump and Congress for undoing what he deemed the FCC’s detrimental privacy rules. “The parade of horribles trotted out to scare the American people about its passage are completely fictitious, especially since parts of the rules never even went into effect. Hopefully, we will soon return to a universe where thoughtful privacy protections are not overrun by shameful FCC power grabs and blatant misrepresentations.”
