US regulators are gearing up for a vote on a plan which -- depending on your viewpoint -- would "restore internet freedom" or, alternatively, result in "the death of the internet" as we know it.

The Federal Communications Commission will consider a rollback of its 2015 order aimed at enforcing "net neutrality," or the notion of treating all data and content providers equally.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai last month unveiled the plan, the latest twist in a dispute over more than a decade, with both sides claiming to promote a "free and open" internet.

The plan, widely expected to be approved on a 3-2 party-line vote Thursday, would reverse the rules adopted two years earlier which ban broadband providers from blocking or throttling rivals, or using "fast" and "slow" lanes for different services.