A range of internet regulations address specific issues that can impact people’s experience with online services. For example, the fact that certain types of content can be blocked or unavailable to users in some locations or countries is regulated by a variety of different laws. These include anti-spam and data protection laws, copyright law, censorship laws, and privacy policies. In addition, internet regulations help to ensure that the digital layer of our online lives is governed by rules that are consistent, transparent, and fair for all.

These laws have been enacted by governments around the world, including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and California’s Consumer Privacy Act. They are intended to protect users’ personal information, encourage competition and innovation, promote civil rights and consumer protection, and balance occasionally competing interests.

To curb abuses, regulators need to have adequate capacity and expertise to assess, communicate, and regulate on behalf of the American public. The speed and complexity of many online service markets and the deliberate obfuscation by some providers that seek to evade government oversight can make this challenging, but it is not insurmountable.

Significant regulatory enhancements and statutory protections are needed to preserve, secure, and strengthen the internet and its infrastructural layers. This includes enforceable baseline prohibitions of highly problematic practices in statute and proactive, principles-based rule-making structured around the protection of consumers, safeguarding civil rights, and promoting competitiveness and innovation. It also includes a unique opt-in regulatory tier for infrastructure providers that prioritizes their goals and insulates them from inappropriate legal liability or evolving changes in liability for service provision.