A U.S. appeals court has blocked the reinstatement of net neutrality provisions, ruling that the Federal Communications Commission doesn't have the authority to make the decision.

Net neutrality rules, which first went into effect in 2015 and were later repealed by President Donald Trump in 2017, forced internet providers to treat all data on their networks equally, without segregating it by speed, tier of access or type of content.

The Biden administration has been trying to reinstate the rules before it leaves office.

But the appeals court pointed to a Supreme Court decision from June of 2024, in which the conservative majority held that the courts, not regulatory agencies, should interpret the rules those agencies were responsible for.

"Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the ruling.

This means the FCC won't have the authority to establish new rules.

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Following the appeals court decision, current FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel called on Congress to pass laws to protect open internet access.

"Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair. With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law," Rosenworcel said in a statement.

"Over the past four years, the Biden Administration has worked to expand the government’s control over every feature of the Internet ecosystem," incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. "President Biden’s entire plan rested on the Chicken Little tactic of persuading Americans that the Internet would break in the absence of these so-called ‘net neutrality’ regulations. The American people have now seen through that ruse."

State rules that protect net neutrality, such as those in California, remain in effect.