Trump to propose ‘tough new regulations’ on tech companies on Monday, CNN’s Jim Acosta reports
President Donald Trump is planning to propose sweeping new regulations that will ban companies from blocking or throttling access to websites and apps, CNN reported.
The regulations would prohibit companies from throttling or blocking access to certain websites and applications, and from “unreasonably discriminating” against certain content, the network reported.
Trump has been vocal in his support of net neutrality, a principle that allows internet providers to treat all web traffic equally, and has made no secret of his desire to push for a “free and open internet” in the United States.
“Net neutrality is a key pillar of our economic and national security,” Trump said in a speech on the sidelines of the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Dinner in May.
“We should treat it like a bedrock principle.”
Trump is set to unveil his proposed regulations at a White House press briefing on Monday afternoon.
The regulations would be the first step in a broad-ranging overhaul of the internet, which Trump has pledged to dismantle.
A number of other major tech companies, including Twitter, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, and Netflix have all expressed support for net neutrality in recent months.
The president has been criticized by some lawmakers for his efforts to gut net neutrality regulations, including by Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, who said the president’s efforts would cause “economic damage to our companies.”