Broadband providers in California appear to have succeeded in their effort to defang what would have been the toughest net neutrality bill in the country.

"Congestion on individual channels is no longer an issue that needs to be managed," Comcast says.

Three industry organizations -- the Association of National Advertisers, Data & Marketing Association and Network Advertising Initiative -- recently donated a combined $125,000 to a group opposing the proposal.

The dispute started over AT&T's "unlimited" data plan, but escalated into a battle over something bigger -- the FTC's ability to police broadband.

"If companies can afford to protect Europeans' privacy, they can also afford to do so for their American customers and users," Senator Ed Markey stated today.

Three Republicans voted in favor of restoring rules that prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic and from charging higher fees for prioritized delivery.

Broadband providers will be free to censor sites and slow down apps on June 11, when the net neutrality repeal takes effect.

Voters in California could decide this November whether to approve a ballot initiative that would allow them to wield control over their data.

"The notion that social media is somehow censoring conservative folks is ridiculous," Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) said this morning.

"When asked to choose between the U.S. government taking action to restrict false news online in ways that could also limit Americans' information freedoms, or protecting those freedoms even if it means false information might be published, Americans fall firmly on the side of protecting freedom," the Pew Research Center writes in a study released Thursday.