By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 12-16-20
As the tenure of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his deregulatory Republican majority winds down, D.C. policy watchers are looking for action on some big issues yet to be resolved one way or the other.
While the regulatory wheels often grind slowly, with the change in administrations coming up and a Republican majority still in force for a few weeks more, there are some big decisions in Pai’s control, ones that could have very different outcomes if left to the Democratic majority that will, eventually, hold sway at the FCC sometime after Jan. 20.
Democrats have asked the chairman not to take action on any “controversial” items as he heads for the exit, a definition Dems would certainly apply to the Sec. 230 item and Charter petition at least. But Pai is under no obligation to comply, or if he did, to use the same definition of “controversial” though it would be hard not to apply it to Sec. 230 and regulating social media. » Read More