Big Tech
“This is something we should be talking about,” FCC chairman says
A screenshot of FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel at an event in Washington on Thursday.
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2024 — Some would like to see big technology companies regulated like public utilities, but the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission says current law doesn't allow for that.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appeared at the National Press Club on Thursday and was asked whether tech giants like Google and Facebook should be classified as general carriers and therefore subject to the FCC's jurisdiction.
Rosenworcel expressed doubts about whether the FCC has the legal authority to apply public utility-style regulation to large tech companies like Google and Meta-owned Facebook.
“This doesn't fit neatly into the Communications Act, so it's one of the things Congress has to look at,” Rosenworcel said.
She was speaking at a forum hosted by the Open Markets Institute and the Guardian US.
Rosenworcel did not take a clear position on whether big tech companies should come under the FCC's jurisdiction, but said “it's something we should be having a conversation about.”
Rosenworcel's comments came after the FCC voted in April to classify broadband ISPs as common carriers. The net neutrality rules go into effect on July 22. National and local ISP trade groups have asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to block enforcement of the rules by July 15.
The feasibility of reclassifying Big Tech has long been debated within the industry.
In 2021, Ohio Attorney General David Yost filed a lawsuit against Google to classify the company's search engine as a common carrier. If successful, the state of Ohio would be able to block Google from favoring its own products and services in search results.
