Eighth Circuit Vacates FCC’s Digital Discrimination Rules
The decision strikes the order in full, sending the FCC to restart.
WASHINGTON, May 6, 2026 – A federal appeals court on Wednesday vacated the Federal Communications Commission’s digital discrimination rules.
Judge James Loken, writing for a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, held that the FCC erred in two respects: by adopting a disparate impact standard and sweeping too broadly in defining who the rules apply to.
“We vacate the final rule in its entirety, leaving the FCC with an unfinished obligation to adopt final rules to facilitate equal access to broadband service,” Loken wrote in the court’s opinion.
