WASHINGTON — An industry group that represents the country’s biggest technology companies said on Friday that it planned to join a looming legal fight against the Federal Communications Commission over its repeal of so-called net neutrality rules.
In its announcement, the group, the Internet Association, made clear for the first time that Facebook, Google, Netflix and other large tech firms would put their reputations and financial clout behind the challenge.
Lawsuits seeking to block the commission’s new policy, which was approved in December, are expected in the weeks ahead, once the rules take effect. The rules will let internet service providers block online content, or charge websites for faster delivery to consumers, by rolling back the protections against such actions that were adopted in 2015.
Several public interest groups, including Free Press and Public Knowledge, and some start-ups had announced plans to challenge the commission’s move weeks ago, but the Internet Association had been undecided about how to respond. Before the commission voted on the repeal, some of America’s biggest tech companies, Facebook and Google in particular, took a back seat during public protests over the issue.
On Friday, a day after the commission released the 539-page final rules, the Internet Association said it would join the coming legal case against them.
“The rule defies the will of a bipartisan majority of Americans and fails to preserve a free and open internet,” Michael Beckerman, the association’s chief executive, said on Friday.
Netflix, whose data-heavy video streams could face extra charges by internet service providers, also said it would support a legal challenge.
