United States of America

FCC Bans New Foreign-Made Routers Over Alleged Security Risks

Are foreign router bans a vital security shield or a protectionist policy dressed up as national security theater?

Published 3 days ago

FCC Bans New Foreign-Made Routers Over Alleged Security Risks

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Above: TP-Link AXE75 Wireless Router showcased in a studio. Image credit: Future Publishing/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Foreign-made routers have already been weaponized by Chinese state-sponsored hackers in the Volt, Flax and Salt Typhoon attacks on US infrastructure, so banning new foreign-made routers is a no-brainer security move. Letting adversaries build backdoors into the devices sitting in American homes and businesses is an unacceptable risk. Securing the supply chain now is exactly the kind of bold action needed to protect critical infrastructure.

Brendan Carr on X

Establishment-critical narrative

No concrete evidence has ever been presented that Chinese-made routers are deliberately engineered with backdoors, yet the FCC just banned an entire product category that China dominates with 60 percent market share. This is national security theater — driving up costs for consumers while gutting competition. Blanket origin-based bans weaken network security rather than strengthen it.

Global Times

Naomi Brockwell on X