Pai Condemns Capitol Riot, to Stay Through Jan. 20; Starks Was 'Shocked'

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai condemned rioters who took over the Capitol Wednesday and President Donald Trump’s challenges to the results of the November election, which led to the attack (see 2101080026). Pai also said he won't proceed with an NPRM on Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2101080051), during an appearance on C-SPAN's Communicators posted online Friday. Pai, who's doing a round of appearances before his Jan. 20 departure, also highlighted his push for more openness at the FCC, during a Free State Foundation webinar.

"The scenes we saw yesterday were outrageous and extremely disappointing to those of us who cherish American democracy, one hallmark of which is the peaceful transition of power," Pai said on C-SPAN during a Thursday taping. “Armed guards defending the Senate chamber, people wielding Confederate flags in the seat of the United States government,” he said: “It was completely unacceptable, completely outrageous. … We must be governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of the mob.” Democracy “must be respected,” he said. The episode was posted online Friday and was expected to have been televised this weekend.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks condemned the rioters Friday, in his first comments on them. “Like millions of other Americans, I was shocked and horrified at the unrest at the Capitol earlier this week,” Starks said in a statement to us: “I've visited the Capitol many times, interacting not only with Members and staff but also with the Capitol police, cafeteria workers and other contractors that work inside the building. I pray for all of those affected by this tragedy. I look forward to the transition to President [Joe] Biden's leadership so we can focus on addressing the urgent issues facing our country today." Other commissioners commented on the violence Wednesday and Thursday (see 2101060057 and 2101070026).

Pai looks to Congress on Section 230. “Within Congress, there seems … to be a consensus that it should be revised or reformed in some way,” he said. The next administration and Congress will have to consider actions like changing the immunity provision, he said. Pai said he didn’t feel White House pressure to act on the CDA provision. He didn’t circulate a 230 NPRM by the December deadline to force a vote (see 2012230065).

A voracious user of Twitter, Pai said he has pressed for a better understanding of the growing role of social media. In November 2017, he made the case that “social media increasingly defines the public square when it comes to public speech, and we need more transparency,” he said. We need to understand “how some of these decisions are made, how certain content is allowed or not allowed on these platforms,” he said. That used to be “a big contrarian take.”

Pai was asked if he would resign, as two Cabinet secretaries and other administration officials did in response to Trump’s encouraging protesters to march to the Capitol. “I lead an independent agency … independent from the executive branch and other elected officials in the legislative branch as well,” and he will stick with a Jan. 20 departure, he said. At Wednesday’s meeting, his last, the focus will be on “the incredible efforts of the FCC staff over the last four years,” he said.

Pai wasn’t told beforehand that Trump would pull the nomination of then-Commissioner Mike O’Rielly for another term because of a statement he made on 230. O'Rielly was replaced by Commissioner Nathan Simington. “I had no part in it,” Pai said: “Mike is not just a friend, he was a very strong commissioner … and he served with distinction.”

“Where was the support for [O’Rielly] when he was not renominated for not falling in line on #Section230?” LightShed analyst Walter Piecyk tweeted Friday.

“Wednesday’s events were not just an assault on our country and on the residents of D.C., but also an assault on our place of employment and on our profession,” wrote FCBA President Natalie Roisman of Wilkinson Barker Friday. “As we hope for a peaceful transition of power, many of us feel unmoored, uncertain, and even unprepared for whatever may come next.”

FCC Policies

Reverse auctions work for USF, Pai said, and he hopes they will continue under Biden. “You have accountability on the backend,” he said. “You have much wiser use of taxpayer dollars than ever before, and I think those results are going to prove enormously positive in the years to come,” he said. “If you have scarce dollars … you want to make sure you’re using those dollars wisely.”

The FCC’s deregulatory approach on net neutrality also worked, Pai said. “Our decision was the right one based on the results we’ve gotten, in terms of capital investment,” he said. “The internet continues to be free and open, and we’ve seen millions more Americans get access to the internet for the first time.” He acknowledged the new FCC under Biden may have a different view. Pai also said he had a busy chairmanship: “I’m hard-pressed to think of anything we didn’t do.”

At FSF, Pai cited his push for increased transparency, such as the release of draft items three weeks before each FCC meeting. “When it comes to running a government agency, greater transparency means greater accountability for decision makers, which elevates the caliber of the work,” he said: “It can increase public trust, which is a critical ingredient for effective government.” Transparency “has fostered more productive engagement with stakeholders and the public,” he said.

The FCC’s Ligado decision illustrates the importance of process, Pai said after his speech. “Because we had an open door where anybody could submit information, positive or negative, about the Ligado application, and because we empowered the FCC staff … to focus on the facts, the decision we made was honestly an easy one,” he said: “We didn’t rubber-stamp the application. We didn’t simply say ‘no.’ We didn’t just sit on it.”

Pai has missed the time he spent around others at the FCC since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. Not having in-person contact “for the last 10 months is one of the things I’ll always be sad about,” he said. Pai said people will like the new headquarters, which has more open space and ambient light than the Portals.

FSF President Randolph May said he hopes the new FCC will give some weight to the lack of reported problems since the net neutrality order: “It is unlikely that if Commissioner [Jessica] Rosenworcel is named acting chair she will wait too long to initiate a proceeding to reverse the current regime,” he said.