FCC's Pai Steps Up Pitch to Conservatives to Back Net Neutrality Plan

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is making the rounds to rally supporters behind his plan to roll back the neutrality rules. His efforts include a huddle with House Republicans set for Thursday and a visit to the Senate Republican. He also recently spoke privately with the Senate Republican Policy Committee on net neutrality. Additionally, he stopped by Verizon’s Washington office on Dec 5 to give a speech at an International Institute of Communications event. 

In an op-ed for the Washington Times, Chairman Pai once again turned up the heat on tech firms, slamming Twitter’s removal of Rep Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) campaign video ad and YouTube restrictions on a conservative commentator’s posts. “Large Silicon Valley platforms today pose a far greater threat to a free and open internet than do internet service providers,” he writes, noting that these online sites face issues with transparency as well. “As we think about internet policy, we should look at the entire internet economy — not single out one part of it.” The op-ed builds on an argument Chairman Pai had made in a previous speech, when he focused the attention away from ISPs and shifted it to the tech companies opposing the net neutrality repeal.