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FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is applauding an appellate court decision to strike down Biden-era rules regarding digital discrimination.

Edited by Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

Biden-era digital discrimination rules previously adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have been struck down by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The rules, which had been adopted in 2023, allowed for possible instances of discrimination of broadband access to be investigated, and for potential penalties to be assessed against companies that failed to meet FCC obligations in the rules.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, an ally of the president, applauded the decision, calling it “another common-sense win for nondiscrimination.”

The appeals court that issued the ruling, based in St. Louis, vacated the entirety of the FCC’s digital discrimination rules, determining that the FCC exceeded their statutory authority.

In his statement last week following the ruling, Carr said the rejected rules made it harder for broadband providers to bridge digital divides.

“Now, the FCC is focused on advancing our Build America Agenda and ensuring that regulated entities do not discriminate, including through our efforts to end invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” he said.

Back in 2023, Carr dissented strongly to the rules when they were originally adopted.

“The Biden Administration’s entire approach to the internet, it’s broadband agenda, if you will, can be boiled down to one single word: control,” Carr said at the time, before he was chair.

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