Consortium of tech companies joins US net neutrality lawsuit

The Internet Association, an advocacy group that includes major tech companies such as Google and Facebook, will join lawsuits against the US government over net neutrality. The first lawsuits are expected soon.

A statement on the Internet Association’s website states that the association will intervene as an intervener in lawsuits against the US government over its repeal of net neutrality rules. This means that the Internet Association will not initiate lawsuits itself, but will join the plaintiffs and make a legal contribution.

However, no lawsuits have been filed so far. That’s because the US FCC’s decision to change the rules had yet to be officially published, something that was only done a few days ago. A number of organizations have already indicated that they will start lawsuits after official publication, so the first hearings are expected soon.

Several large tech companies are affiliated with the Internet Association. This concerns, for example, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Microsoft and Twitter. Many of these companies have already spoken out individually against changing the rules on net neutrality.

The American watchdog FCC decided last month to adjust the rules on net neutrality, so that internet providers no longer have to adhere to strict rules when it comes to treating internet traffic equally. Before the vote, there was much criticism of the intention to remove the rules.