Here is how six executives from the nation’s top technology companies reacted to the vote.
1. “I am extremely disappointed in the FCC decision to remove the #NetNeutrality protections. We’ll continue to work with our peers, partners and customers to find ways to ensure an open and fair internet that can continue to drive massive innovation,” Amazon’s Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels, PhD, tweeted.
2. “Today’s decision from the Federal Communications Commission to end net neutrality is disappointing and harmful. An open internet is critical for new ideas and economic opportunity — and internet providers shouldn’t be able to decide what people can see online or charge more for certain websites,” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post. “We’re ready to work with members of Congress and others to help make the internet free and open for everyone.”
3. “The open internet benefits consumers, business [and] the entire economy,” Microsoft Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith tweeted. “That’s jeopardized by the FCC’s elimination of #NetNeutrality protections today.”
4. “We’re disappointed in the decision to gut #NetNeutrality protections that ushered in an unprecedented era of innovation, creativity [and] civic engagement,” reads a tweet from Netflix’s company account. “This is the beginning of a longer legal battle. Netflix stands [with] innovators, large [and] small, to oppose this misguided FCC order.”
5. “We cannot let this happen to our internet in the U.S.,” Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian tweeted. “We must keep fighting for #NetNeutrality.”
6. “It’s disheartening that the #FCC chose to ignore the public and approve a policy that benefits the few and powerful at the expense of creators, and the stories they work to tell,” Vimeo posted on its company Twitter account. “We look forward to challenging this misguided decision in court. #NetNeutrality.”
AT&T also posted a public statement regarding the vote. The telecommunications company wrote, “We do not block websites, nor censor online content, nor throttle or degrade traffic based on the content, nor unfairly discriminate in our treatment of internet traffic … These principles, which were laid out in the FCC’s 2010 Open Internet Order and fully supported by AT&T, are clearly articulated on our website and are fully enforceable against us. In short, the internet will continue to work tomorrow just as it always has.”
Similarly, Verizon Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Will Johnson stated the company’s support for internet freedom. “Verizon fully supports the open Internet, and we will continue to do so,” Mr. Johnson wrote in an emailed statement to CNN Money. “Our customers demand it and our business depends on it.”
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