The FCC Restores Net Neutrality. What It Means for the Internet

Net neutrality, a set of policies designed to prevent internet-service providers from playing favorites among the websites they carry, is coming back. 

In a vote Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission classified internet service as a public utility. The definition is part of a new framework the FCC will use to regulate broadband networks. 

For years, internet-service providers have sparred with regulators and activists over the rules for offering internet access to consumers and businesses. Net-neutrality provisions introduced during the Obama administration were scrapped during the Trump presidency. The shifting rules haven’t radically changed how the internet is delivered to consumers or how much they pay for it.