Senators Cantwell, Hassan Lead Letter to FCC Chairman Highlighting Importance of Net Neutrality to Women Across America

Press Release

Today, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) led a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai highlighting the importance of net neutrality to women across America and urging him to reconsider the proposal he outlined last month to roll back critical online consumer protections by dismantling current net neutrality rules.

"Net neutrality is particularly important to women, as it affords women-owned businesses and startups an even playing field when competing with more established brands and content," the Senators wrote in the letter.

"The Internet is a powerful tool for civic engagement, as well as a means for economic and social mobility. We cannot overstate the importance of a free and open Internet to our nation's economy, innovators, entrepreneurs, and consumers -- including women and girls," the Senators added.

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should provide equal access to all applications, content, platforms, and websites. The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to provide a level playing field and protect against content discrimination, and these rules went into effect in June of 2015.

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