Media Contact: 
Tina Pelkey, (202) 418-0536
tina.pelkey@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
CHAIRMAN PAI CIRCULATES DRAFT ORDER TO 
RESTORE INTERNET FREEDOM AND ELIMINATE 
HEAVY-HANDED INTERNET REGULATIONS
Public Draft Will Be Released More Than Three Weeks Prior to Vote
WASHINGTON, November 21, 2017—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai 
released the following statement on his draft Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which was 
circulated to his fellow Commissioners this morning and will be voted on at the FCC’s Open 
Meeting on December 14:
“For almost twenty years, the Internet thrived under the light-touch regulatory approach 
established by President Clinton and a Republican Congress.  This bipartisan framework led the 
private sector to invest $1.5 trillion building communications networks throughout the United 
States.  And it gave us an Internet economy that became the envy of the world.
“But in 2015, the prior FCC bowed to pressure from President Obama. On a party-line vote, it
imposed heavy-handed, utility-style regulations upon the Internet.  That decision was a mistake.  
It’s depressed investment in building and expanding broadband networks and deterred innovation.  
“Today, I have shared with my colleagues a draft order that would abandon this failed approach
and return to the longstanding consensus that served consumers well for decades. Under my 
proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the Internet. Instead, the FCC would 
simply require Internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers 
can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can 
have the technical information they need to innovate.  
“Additionally, as a result of my proposal, the Federal Trade Commission will once again be able 
to police ISPs, protect consumers, and promote competition, just as it did before 2015.  Notably, 
my proposal will put the federal government’s most experienced privacy cop, the FTC, back on 
the beat to protect consumers’ online privacy.
“Speaking of transparency, when the prior FCC adopted President Obama’s heavy-handed 
Internet regulations, it refused to let the American people see that plan until weeks after the 
FCC’s vote.  This time, it’ll be different.  Specifically, I will publicly release my proposal to 
restore Internet freedom tomorrow—more than three weeks before the Commission’s December 
14 vote.
“Working with my colleagues, I look forward to returning to the light-touch, market-based 
framework that unleashed the digital revolution and benefited consumers here and around the 
world.”    
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Office of Chairman Ajit Pai: (202) 418-2000
Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC
www.fcc.gov/leadership/ajit-pai
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order 
constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).