LOS ANGELES—Ajit Pai, the controversial, Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, announced Monday that he will step down from the post on January 20 — the same day that President-Elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated.
After a tumultuous, four-year term, Pai’s primary legacy will likely be the FCC’s 2018 repeal of federal net neutrality regulations — a decision that threatened to directly, and adversely affect the online adult industry. Net neutrality requires internet service providers to treat all data equally, not arbitrarily slowing or blocking traffic from any specific source.
Without net neutrality, online porn — and any type of content, for that matter — could be censored by individual telecom companies. Or, the ISPs could block porn sites for anyone who does not pay an additional fee to access them.
But since the repeal took effect in June of 2018, the adult industry has largely escaped those potential adverse consequences. And with Pai gone and a new, Democratic majority on the FCC under a Biden administration, the body appears likely to reinstate some form of net neutrality regulations.
According to a report by the entertainment industry trade publication Variety, the leading candidate to be Biden’s nominee for FCC chair is Jessica Rosenworcel, the senior Democrat on the five-member commission — who has been perhaps Pai’s most outspoken critic.
In addition to net neutrality repeal, Pai in October said that, following an executive order from Trump, he would begin to set new rules that would “clarify” Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Section 230 is often referred to as “the First Amendment of the Internet,” but Trump has been vocal in his desire to repeal the law. But Biden, albeit for different reasons, has also called for Section 230’s repeal.
Because it allows almost any content to be published online without legal liability for internet platforms, Section 230 is also a crucial regulation for the online adult industry, which could face strict censorship without it.
Whether the FCC’s “review” of Section 230 will continue after January 20 is now in doubt. When Pai steps down, Democrats appear likely to hold a 2-1 majority on the FCC board.
The five-member board is currently down to four, because Trump withdrew his re-nomination of Republican Michael O'Rielly — whose term has now expired — after O'Rielly expressed “deep reservations” over Trump’s call to repeal Section 230 and regulate content on social media.
Trump has since nominated Nathan Simington, a strong critic of Section 230 who authored Trump’s executive order calling for the FCC “review.” But Simington’s nomination is currently blocked in the Senate by Democrats who oppose his stance on the 24-year-old law.
That means, when Pai — a former corporate lawyer for the telecom giant Verizon — resigns, the board will temporarily be down to three members, with two of them Democrats.
Photo By Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
