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California Senate defies FCC ruling, passes its own Net Neutrality bill
July 22, 2025
Yesterday evening, the California Senate passed aNet Neutralitybill that not only would put the Obama-era rules back in place but would also put an even tighter leash on how ISPs can control citizens’ access to the internet.
The bill passed through the Senate by a vote of 23 – 12, viaARSTechnica. As expected, the 23 ayes came from Democrats and the 12 noes came from Republicans.
To become California law, the bill will now head to the Democrat-controlled State Assembly and finally to Governor Jerry Brown, also a Democrat. As such, it is very likely the bill will become law in California, the third-largest state in the U.S.
Net Neutrality is the notion that the internet should remain free and open, and treated more like a public utility than a strictly commercial enterprise. The Obama-era Net Neutrality laws were voted down by the FCCin December last yearand will cease to be a federal lawin June.
The FCC board is comprised of people who are not voted to their positions and do not have to take public interest into account with their decisions. The leader of the FCC —Ajit Pai, pictured above — was appointed to the position by President Trump withthe specific intentof removing Net Neutrality laws.
If this California state law does get voted in, Net Neutrality proponents are worried that the ISPs will argue that the FCC’s federal statutes supersede those of individual states. However, the FCCjust restrictedits own powers over broadband internet, which could make the argument moot.
If that is the case, then each state could enact its own Net Neutrality legislation, and ISPs would have to tailor their products to meet the rules of each individual state.
While the federal rules that the FCC just voted down prohibited ISPs from blocking or throttling certain websites or charging extra for “fast lane” internet, this California bill goes even further: it also places a ban on paid data-cap exemptions. This would prohibit ISPs from capping broadband data flow and then charging to release the cap; in other words, it would force ISPs to only offer unlimited broadband data.
Other states in the U.S. – including New York andOregon– have similar bills in the works.
NEXT:As Net Neutrality nears its end, Verizon shows some customers data caps
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