California Lawmaker To Introduce Net Neutrality Bill

CALIFORNIA — California - home of Google, Facebook, Twitter and other tech monoliths - may lead the way for states on net neutrality.

On Thursday, the FCC voted 3-2 to repeal Obama-era net neutrality regulations.

Calling the decision "a big problem for our democracy," California State Sen. Scott Wiener announced Thursday that he will introduce a bill in the California legislature to require net neutrality here.

"So in January," Wiener said in a video posted on Twitter, "when the California legislature goes back in session, I'm going to introduce legislation to adopt net neutrality as a requirement in California."

"Without net neutrality," he continued, "we can have a situation where it's easier to access websites that pay money and harder to access websites that don't pay money. If we want to have the great democracy that we deserve, we need to have a free and open internet, and that means net neutrality."

The California legislature will reconvene on Jan. 3, less than three weeks from now.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara County announced it will file a lawsuit the repeal. “This County is a center of innovation. We are at the heart of Silicon Valley,” said Supervisor Joe Simitian. “The FCC’s action harms start-ups, small companies, and businesses generally, who rely on a level playing field to compete. It hampers development and investment in cutting-edge Internet technologies that the County relies upon.”

-Image via State of California