Policymakers

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is angering a lot of powerful people as his chairmanship hits its fourth and potentially final year. The Pentagon, the Commerce Department and the Department of Transportation. Electric utilities, airlines and the auto industry. Public safety officials and weather forecasters. Top lawmakers of both parties, including Sen John Kennedy (R-LA) an ally of President Donald Trump’s who controls the FCC’s purse strings on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission announces the anticipated renewal of the Consumer Advisory Committee and solicits nominations for membership on the Committee, subject to anticipated renewal of the Committee’s charter on or before October 20, 2020. Nominations for membership are due on August 7, 2020. The Committee’s mission is to make recommendations to the FCC regarding topics of particular interest to consumers, to be specified by the FCC, and to facilitate consumers’ participation in proceedings before the FCC.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that Ashley Boizelle will serve as Acting General Counsel for the FCC. Boizelle joined the FCC in 2017 as Deputy General Counsel for Administrative Law and has served as Deputy General Counsel for Litigation since 2019. Boizelle will serve as Acting General Counsel from July 13 to September 4, 2020, while General Counsel Thomas M. Johnson, Jr., is on paternity leave. Boizelle joined the FCC from the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

If Joe Biden wins the presidency, he’s promising at least one staffing change: firing the CEO of a US-funded global media agency who’s accused of trying to turn it into a propaganda shop aligned with President Donald Trump’s ideology. Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the former vice president’s campaign, said Biden will oust Michael Pack from his Senate-confirmed position at the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) soon after entering the White House.

Growing up as a gay kid, one of the first ways I was able to better understand myself was by going on the Internet. I was able to look up queer history that I had never been taught in school, see political debates affecting the LGBTQ+ community that I was too nervous to engage in myself, and look for examples of out and proud LGBTQ+ folks who were living their lives to the fullest. It was the only safe method of engagement I had, until I was eventually ready to come out myself.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced a staff change in the management of the FCC’s Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force. Nathan Eagan, who has been the chief of the staff of the Task Force since 2018, has moved to the Office of General Counsel. Audra Hale-Maddox will become the new chief of staff for the Task Force. Since 2012, Hale-Maddox served in the Auctions Division of the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics (and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau before that), specializing in auction programs focused on expanding broadband access.

For decades, US government-funded foreign broadcasting has distinguished itself from that of undemocratic nations with its commitment to quality journalism and editorial independence.

The Senate Commerce Committee held a nomination hearing on June 16 that featured Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly. Commissioner O'Rielly's term expired at the end of June 2019, but commissioners can continue to serve until the close of the next Congress. The new term would date from July 1, 2019. 

ACCESS BROADBAND Act (S 1046) would direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth to help communities develop strategies to expand the deployment and use of high-speed Internet services. The office would conduct workshops, develop broadband training, create and distribute publications, consult with other federal agencies that offer broadband support programs to streamline and standardize their applications processes, and develop a central website for information about federal broadband programs.

Public Knowledge announces that it will not accept funding from Facebook for any of the organization’s programs or initiatives. The decision follows a June 1 meeting between Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and civil rights leaders to discuss the company’s choice to leave up without moderation comments made by President Donald Trump, including one in which he posted, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” in reference to protests over George Floyd’s death. Twitter, meanwhile, labeled the content with a disclaimer that it “glorified violence.”