How net-neutrality advocates would let President Trump control the Internet

[Commentary] Recently, millions of Americans, mainly on the left, rallied behind a cause larger than themselves: maximizing President Donald Trump’s power over the Internet. Wait. What?

Powers invoked for net neutrality could be a Trojan horse — just as the Electronic Frontier Foundation warned about the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission’s power grab in 2008. The current FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, has long criticized the FCC’s abuses of power. He has consistently opposed the politicization of the agency and called for the FCC to constrain its discretion. But Pai won’t be chairman forever, and his self-restraint is highly exceptional. Democrats should have worked out a legislative deal while they held the White House. It’s not too late, but it soon might be. Republicans increasingly see Web companies as political enemies. That will only get worse without legislation. We could spend another decade, or more, fighting about this. The good news? Some Democrats and Web companies are showing signs they might negotiate. The door remains open — for now.

[Berin Szoka is president of TechFreedom, a technology policy think tank.]