Bishop Wester Welcomes FCC Vote Preserving Net Neutrality

WASHINGTON (USCCB) — The vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) preserving an open Internet and preventing service providers from discriminating against content makers is a welcome move, crucial for allowing religions, including the Catholic Church, to communicate online, said Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, Feb. 26.

“The Internet is a critical medium for religious speech. Radio, broadcast television and cable television are, in large part, closed to noncommercial religious messages,” said Bishop Wester, who chairs the Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). “From the inception of the Internet until the mid-2000s, Internet service providers were not permitted to discriminate or tamper with what was said over those Internet connections. Today, the FCC restores this protection for speakers, protection particularly important to noncommercial religious speakers.”

The USCCB has long supported open Internet, where neither the telephone or cable company providing access can tamper with access by consumers to any legal website or other web content.