The recent solar eclipse is not the only defining story of 2017 that we are revisiting—net neutrality is back up for debate. Seven years ago, utility-style regulation of the internet, often mislabeled as net neutrality, was repealed. For all the apocalyptic predictions of what would happen, the internet did not crumble in the absence of more government regulation.

This month, despite the anticlimactic repeal of net neutrality and subsequent flourishing of broadband, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced its plan to vote to reinstate utility-style regulation of the internet at the end of April. These regulations are far more extensive than what was tried in 2017. Not only does the FCC want to govern how content moves on the internet; it also wants the power to set price controls and run the internet like an electricity utility, micromanaging every detail.

Those in favor of regulation argue that, without giving the FCC new and expansive powers, internet users will be left helpless and unable to access the content they want when they want it.

The reality is that more government regulation will hardly lead to a freer, faster, and more open internet. Think about the businesses that work better in your lives. Is it your government regulated utility? Or a market where there is fierce competition for your services? Instead, expanding the regulations from 2017, the proposal would dramatically increase government power and will decrease innovation and investment in an area where they are desperately needed.

Bringing back utility-style regulation is not the cure to a diseased web; it is a solution in search of a problem. The internet has flourished for the last six years without net neutrality. High speeds, expansive search results, and new developments abound. Providers rose to the occasion of less regulation and recognized that internet users were interested in accessing data quickly and efficiently. The operating techniques often criticized by those in favor of net neutrality, “blocking and throttling” are primarily used for protecting users from virus attacks and service issues, not for nefarious ISP censorship

Arduous government involvement will have far reaching effects. The reinstatement of Net Neutrality will ultimately slow down investment and innovation in the internet sector, during a time when both are desperately needed to maintain America’s leadership in internet and tech more broadly. Nothing discourages progress quite like red tape. Internet service providers will be more concerned with functioning as a utility instead of competing with each other to deliver more, better, and faster broadband to consumers.

The state of broadband is far from perfect. Millions of Americans still don’t have access to high-speed internet. However, adding new regulations instead of encouraging competitive solutions through a light touch approach will not solve the problem. The return of net neutrality does not bode well for providers, users, or those offline.

Louisiana is receiving over $1.3 billion in federal aid to help close the digital divide. A free and competitive internet is essential to maximizing these funds and bringing Louisianans online. The FCC should not be in the business of addressing problems that have yet to occur and should instead prioritize strategies and funds towards closing the digital divide and encouraging a flourishing and competitive internet economy.