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North Carolina Follows Other States Into Net Neutrality Fight

In this 2017 file photo, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai arrives for an FCC meeting where they will vote on net neutrality in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

A Democratic State Senator from Wake County says he'll introduce a bill this session to protect net neutrality in North Carolina.

Sen. Jay Chaudhuri's statement is following in the footsteps of other states that have already taken action.

Critics say the repeal of Obama-era net neutrality protections would allow service providers to either close or slow down parts of the internet, potentially favoring some content over the other.

Now North Carolina will follow other states in debating whether or not provide net neutrality protections.

In reality, the Republican-controlled legislature is likely to kill the bill. And Wake Forest University political scientist John Dinan says states that act are on dicey legal ground.

“The legal status of any state net neutrality policies is at best dubious, the reason being is that when the Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality, they also said state governments could not enact similar net neutrality policies,” Dinan says.

The FCC said it would roll back net neutrality protections June 11th, but it's possible Congress could intervene.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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