# Post Analysis - CEBKCEBKCEBK on Net Neutrality (2026-11-01) Author: [[Users/@CEBKCEBKCEBK/CEBKCEBKCEBK-x-profile|@CEBKCEBKCEBK profile]] · Lists: [[Users/@CEBKCEBKCEBK/Chronological List|chronological]] · [[Users/@CEBKCEBKCEBK/Topical List|topical]] · Topic: [[Topics/Net Neutrality and Internet Regulation/Net Neutrality and Internet Regulation|Net Neutrality and Internet Regulation]] · Index: [[X Research]] > [!info] Interactions with [[marshallpittman]] > None found in either direction (searches Nov 3, 2026). Marshall bookmarked this post into "summarize". ## The post - **URL:** https://x.com/CEBKCEBKCEBK/status/2116978127112937673 - **Posted:** Sun Nov 1, 2026, 1:38 PM CST - **Metrics (X API, Nov 3, 2026, about 9:50 AM CT):** 183,634 views · 2,152 likes · 168 reposts · 35 replies · 12 quotes · 1,107 bookmarks - **Media:** 0 attachments. > Net Neutrality is funny bc it was literally just Obama imposing price controls & product bans on the internet by underhanded regulatory fiat in ways that bizarrely benefited Netflix & YouTube & Reddit, & then—when the judiciary & Trump/Pai rolled this back—Netflix & YouTube & Reddit whipped up an insane moral panic about how this repeal of absurd recent regs would end “the open internet” (& then Obama’s coalition actually censored the web in completely unrelated ways). > > It was maybe the 1st of the “whole-of-society” mobilizations which defined Woke1 & ResistLibs, & it oddly presented as “apolitical” & “nerdy” & “libertarian” while promoting an obviously politicized & retarded & socialist narrative. Infographics about how undoing Obama’s brand new “rent control but for bandwidth” would cause “walled gardens” & censorship, as the libs retreated into walled gardens & censorship; John Oliver propaganda claiming to be tech-savvy, to claim that it’s *actually* tyranny if tenured “apolitical” bureaucrats *can’t* lawlessly impose their party’s policy preferences on the web indefinitely; lefties all rebelliously marching in lock step against “corporations maaan,” by fighting for the right of Netflix & YT & Reddit to freely clog the commons without even being allowed to pay for or create private plots… > > The basics: in the 1990s, Congress updated its 1930s laws on telecom regulation, specifically to create a relatively unregulated “Title I” category, specifically for internet providers like ISPs (to insulate them from the heavy regs that controlled eg phone lines); partly thanks to this permissive regulatory environment, the internet grew like gangbusters, so in 2010 Obama had his tenured bureaucrats at FCC tell ISPs that even tho they’re *by law* “Title I,” they should “act like” they’re “Title II” heavily-regulated “common carriers” (like phone lines) in certain respects, “or else”; the courts repeatedly threw this out (eg in 2010’s Comcast v FCC & 2014’s Verizon v FCC, which were among other things literally about whether it was legal for ISPs to charge Netflix more for using way more bandwidth), so in 2015 Obama’s Netflix-Occupied Govt (NOG) had his tenured bureaucrats at FCC redefine ISPs as Title II Common Carriers. > > Except, well, even that skips over how Obama’s own appointee to head FCC began the process of (re-)legalizing “fast lanes” in late 2014, leading to the first wave of John Oliver Netflix Reddit moral panics about “ending the open internet,” so then Obama released a slick YouTube video publicly instructing this unaccountable tenure-protected “independent” agency to explicitly reclassify ISPs as Title II common carriers, despite Congress explicitly classifying them as Title I; so the FCC reversed course again, & in 2015 “net neutrality” began (& lasted less than 3 years total, but was presented as “immutable” & “fundamental” to the internet as we know it). Was arguably the opening salvo in the aggressive politicization of tenure-protected “independent agencies” during Woke1/Resist. > > What “net neutrality” actually means is that ISPs are banned from eg asking content providers to pay more for capacity at certain speeds (eg if they use more of it), & banned from eg asking content consumers to accept slower speeds for certain content (eg if it uses more capacity); so video platforms like Netflix & YouTube & aggregators like Reddit use *way* more bandwidth than eg emails & wikis, but can’t be charged more or slowed down for using more, & consumers likewise can’t be given carrots or sticks based on the composition of their data usage. So in practice you just get Netflix et al clogging the web for everyone, & getting subsidized by every bandwidth-light use of the web, & everyone’s thus under-incented to build out capacity; & consumers are banned from getting cheaper data plans if they agree to not use it for streaming. No wonder Netflix etc fought for this big subsidy—even tho it slowed internet for everyone (continued below). **Quoted post:** [@AjitPai, Fri Oct 30, 2026, 6:19 PM CDT](https://x.com/AjitPai/status/2116308925930754255) (167,843 views at the snapshot): > For over a decade, Reddit never missed an opportunity to preen about so-called “net neutrality.” It virtue-signaled that the company was “built on the premise of letting individuals decide what content they find interesting. We believe the same basic principle should apply to the internet as a whole.” It launched multiple “Days of Action,” trying to scaremonger people into believing that the internet as we knew it was about to end—obviously wrong then and now. Without utility-style internet regulation, Reddit warned that corporations would take actions solely “for their own profit.” > > How times have changed. Reddit is now making its own “open” platform a walled garden. Specifically, it’s unilaterally decided to block consumers from accessing Reddit content unless they log in—what it calls a “logged-in-only experience.” (So much for letting “individuals decide what content they find interesting.”) That’s because corporate-controlled access yields more consumer-specific information that benefits Reddit’s own advertising and data businesses. All this despite the company being enormously profitable already—it’s made over $740 million this year, a record by far. > > Far be it from me to suggest that Reddit must be regulated or prohibited from doing what they think is a key driver of “monetization on Reddit.” Assuming no violations of law or regulation, my views here are clear—and they don’t change, even when corporate leadership previously accused me of corruption and called repealing FCC regulations “un-American.” But when a company that has constantly and vitriolically demanded regulation of its perceived rivals—to prevent alleged harms to consumer from conduct that was purely hypothetical—now explicitly boasts about giving consumers a less-open Internet to benefit its bottom line, it should get the public scrutiny and mockery it richly deserves. ## Claim-by-claim Ratings: ✅ accurate · 🟡 partly right or simplified · ❌ wrong · ⚠️ misleading · ❓ could not verify · ◻ opinion or background knowledge, not re-checked this session. | # | Claim | Finding | Rating | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Congress created Title I "specifically for ISPs" | The 1996 Act defined the categories. The FCC classified cable modems (2002) and DSL (2005), and *NCTA v. Brand X* (2005) upheld it. | ❌ | | 2 | In 2010 the FCC told ISPs to act like common carriers | The Dec 2010 Open Internet Order set no-blocking and no-unreasonable-discrimination rules under Title I. | ✅ | | 3 | *Comcast* (2010) and *Verizon* (2014) threw this out; both were about charging Netflix more | Both rulings went against the FCC ✅. *Comcast* was about BitTorrent ❌. | 🟡 | | 4 | Late 2014: Obama's FCC chair began re-legalising fast lanes; John Oliver; Obama's video | Wheeler's proposal came in May 2014, Oliver's segment on June 1, Obama's video on Nov 10, 2014. The timing is a little off. | ✅/🟡 | | 5 | 2015 Title II order lasted under 3 years before Pai/Trump repealed it | In force June 2015 to June 2018: about 3 years. | ✅ | | 6 | "The judiciary" rolled it back | The 2015 order was upheld in 2016 (*USTA*), and the repeal largely upheld in 2019 (*Mozilla*). The Sixth Circuit struck the 2024 order in Jan 2025. | 🟡 | | 7 | It banned cheaper non-streaming plans | Paid prioritisation was banned; zero-rating was judged case by case. | 🟡 | | 8 | It subsidised Netflix and slowed the internet | Opinion; no evidence that speeds fell. | ❓ | | 9 | Quoted @AjitPai: Reddit is going logged-in-only | Reddit announced a logged-in shift on Oct 29, 2026, testing first in select non-US markets. | 🟡 | ## Overall verdict 🟡 Polemical but built on a mostly accurate timeline: the FCC's 2010 order, *Comcast v. FCC* (2010), *Verizon v. FCC* (2014), Wheeler's 2014 proposal to allow paid prioritisation, John Oliver (June 2014), Obama's video (Nov 10, 2014), the 2015 Title II order, and Pai's repeal (voted Dec 2017, in force June 2018). Wrong or slanted: - **Who classified ISPs:** Congress never put broadband under Title I; the FCC did, in 2002 and 2005, and *Brand X* (2005) upheld it. - ***Comcast*:** the case was about throttling BitTorrent, not charging Netflix. - **The courts:** the D.C. Circuit **upheld** the 2015 order (*USTA v. FCC*, 2016). It was the Sixth Circuit that struck the FCC's 2024 rules, in Jan 2025. - **Netflix and speeds:** the subsidy and slowdown claims are opinion. Ajit Pai's quoted Reddit claim runs slightly ahead of the facts: Reddit announced a logged-in shift on Oct 29, 2026, testing it first outside the US. ## Gaps - The post says "(continued below)"; its continuation (Nov 1, 1:41 PM CST) was seen but not analysed. - Court and FCC dates are background knowledge (◻). - Pai's "$740 million" Reddit figure was not verified. ## Sources - https://x.com/CEBKCEBKCEBK/status/2116978127112937673 - https://x.com/AjitPai/status/2116308925930754255 - https://www.axios.com/2026/10/29/reddit-logged-in-ai-search-incognito - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality_in_the_United_States - https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/04pdf/04-277.pdf