Paid Prioritization Language Needs 'Discussion' Before Including It in Net Neutrality Bill, Blackburn Says

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a Friday Twitter video that she left paid prioritization language out of the version of the Open Internet Preservation Act (HR-4682) she filed last week “because we need to leave that part for discussion.” Blackburn said in an interview last week the issue was still up for debate but there are “innovators who don't want us to deal with [paid prioritization], who want us to leave that alone.” Blackburn previously opposed including a ban on the practice in net neutrality legislation and it's an issue that divides Capitol Hill Republicans (see 1506040046, 1702130044 and 1712200057). “Right now there are components of the online ecosystem that do have prioritization, just as there is in the regular life,” Blackburn said Friday. “There are so many ways that we prioritize different services from those who are going to use more or who are willing to pay more for a specific service.”