Trump’s New FCC Chairman Wants to ‘Fire Up the Weed Whacker and Remove’ Rules Protecting Open Internet

Net Neutrality, Internet Innovation, and Access at Risk With New FCC Chairman

President Donald J. Trump has appointed Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai, a Republican, to head the agency as its chairman. The president’s appointment Monday places Pai, a longtime outspoken opponent of new net neutrality rules and FCC regulations, in a position to fundamentally alter how Americans access the internet and give large internet service provider corporations the ability to directly control access by websites and consumers. 

“Consumers need to be worried about what this means for their access to the internet,” argues Chris Lewis of the pro-net neutrality group Public Knowledge in an interview with Vox Magazine. He warns that in a world without network neutrality rules, big ISPs like Comcast or Verizon could block access to certain websites or force customers to pay extra to reach sites they don’t own.

Pai, 44, who replaced Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat who stepped down Friday as the Trump Administration took over the reins of government, has long been a critic of “net neutrality.” He has been part of the five-member FCC since 2012. Previously, he worked as an associate general counsel of Verizon Communications. He has also spent time on Capitol Hill as a Senate staffer and a lawyer at the Department of Justice.

Trump himself has spoken against the rules, tweeting in November 2014 while the new regulations were being considered and debated, “Obama’s attack on the Internet is another top-down power grab.”  Those regulations were adopted by the FCC on a partisan 3-2 vote in 2015. 

Polls overwhelmingly find most Americans support net neutrality, including 81 percent of Democrats and 85 percent of Republicans.

Speaking before the Free State Foundation’s 10th anniversary luncheon in December, Pai directly attacked the regulations he sees as a hindrance to innovation and growth on the net.

“We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation and job creation.”

Among the FCC rules Pai referred to are “PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE OPEN INTERNET,” and “ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT AND CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.”

Explaining that network neutrality has been the significant force behind so much of the innovation on the internet that has taken place since the web first went live in 1993, supporters of network neutrality rules say that repealing them would be a disaster for the open internet and online innovation.

Lewis noted that without net neutrality protections, the internet would become less hospitable to new companies and innovative ideas. For example, if large ISPs began requiring video-streaming sites to pay extra to deliver video content to their customers, the expense and hassle of negotiating deals with dozens of network owners could make it difficult for the next YouTube to get traction. “We certainly worry about reducing consumer choices,” Lewis says. “Some of the startup companies that drive economic growth may not exist anymore.”

Craig Aaron, president of Free Press, a digital rights group, told the LA Times, Pai “looks out for the corporate interests he used to represent in the private sector.”

“Millions of Americans from across the political spectrum have looked to the FCC to protect their rights to connect and communicate and cheered decisions like the historic net neutrality ruling, and Pai threatens to undo all of that important work,” Aaron said. “Those millions will rise up again to oppose his reactionary agenda.”

Some responses via Twitter:

You can respond directly to Ajit Pai by sending your comments directly to him on Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC or via the FCC’s website.
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Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

Image by FCC via Flickr