Q&A: FCC Chairman Explains Why He’s Ending Obama’s ‘Heavy-Handed Internet Regulations’

The Federal Communications Commission will vote in December on a proposal to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules. Shortly after publicly announcing the news, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai spoke to Daily Signal Editor-in-Chief Rob Bluey. In the edited transcript that follows, Pai explains what it means for consumers and addresses concerns voiced by the left.

Bluey: The Federal Communications Commission plays a big role in all of our lives because you regulate radio, TV, cable, wire, and satellite communications. And you have some major news to share with us that involves your Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Could you tell us what this order is?

Pai: It is essentially my proposal to repeal the Obama administration’s heavy-handed regulations adopted two years ago on a party-line vote that regulated the internet. What I’m proposing to do is to get rid of those regulations and to return to the bipartisan light-touch framework that governed the internet starting in the Clinton administration and continuing all the way to 2015.

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