The image was taken by Alex Wong.
The Senate is expected to hold a confirmation hearing on Biden's appointment to the FCC on Wednesday. The new chair will arrive in the middle of an agency stalemate that has put net neutrality work on pause for Biden's entire first year in office.
The Senate is expected to advance the former FCC Commissioner as chair of the commission, but it won't take action on the other nominee, keeping the FCC in a stalemate with two Democrats, two Republicans and one empty seat. The Republicans remain opposed to net neutrality, so Democrats have little chance of bringing back the rules.
The fight over the final open seat has arisen from the stalemate and the desire to keep the Trump-era rollback in place. Several Republicans came out in opposition of Sohn's nomination, accusing the telecom policy veteran of holding an unfair bias against conservatives, and making her path to nomination that much slower.
I will do everything in my power to convince my colleagues to reject this extreme nominee.
Gigi Sohn has disdain for conservatives. She would be a nightmare for the country when it comes to regulating the public airwaves. I will do everything in my power to convince my colleagues to reject this extreme nominee.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune said in an interview that his views were very different from that of Sohn. She is going to be a heavy hand in regulation and net neutrality.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote an op-ed in November suggesting that Sohn could use her position at the FCC to censor conservative outlets. Murdoch owns the Journal.
The relatively mild response to the nominee was praised by Republicans.
Sohn is a progressive advocate for net neutrality and additional regulatory restrictions against telecom companies. Sohn urged the FCC to regulate broadband even more under the new net neutrality rules.
Republican claims that Sohn would act as a censor despite her desires to ramp up broadband enforcement. The Journal warned that Sohn could push for a new fairness doctrine after she called Fox News a state-sponsored propaganda in October 2020.
In 1949, the FCC instituted the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to present controversial issues in an honest and equitable manner. The rules were abolished by the FCC in 1987. Republicans discussed a possible new fairness doctrine for the internet as Donald Trump criticized Big Tech as a potential censor of conservative views.
A new fairness doctrine is a bugaboo of the right.
The new fairness doctrine is a bugaboo of the right and would not go into effect through new FCC rules or legislation, according to Sohn.
The White House said in its announcement of Sohn's nomination that he has worked to defend and preserve the fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open, and protective of user privacy.
Sources told The Verge that Sohn was in the running to become chair. Sohn's appointment fell out of favor due to Republican opposition.
Even though some Senate Republicans and media organizations oppose Sohn's nomination, other conservative networks have issued statements in favor of her confirmation.
I know her. I've worked with her. In an op-ed for Newsmax, the former assistant and director of scheduling to George W. Bush wrote that he had seen her fight for people's right to express themselves even when she disagreed with them. When it comes to protecting my free speech, I trust Gigi to get it right.
Charles Herring said last week that he had fought in the trenches side-by-side with Gigi Sohn for a number of years. I am aware of her personal views, but I am even more knowledgeable about her advocacy for diversity in the programming lineup, even if it is not in line with her personal views.
The future of net neutrality is dependent on how moderate Democrats, including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, vote.
Neither Manchin nor Sinema have made any public statements on Sohn. Sinema has supported Republicans on FCC issues. The Save the Internet Act would codify net neutrality rules into law, but Sinema refused to co-sponsor it.
If the Biden administration and Senate Democrats want to fight against corporate monopolies and rein in the harm they cause, they need to prioritize this, according to Evan Greer, a progressive tech advocate for Fight for the Future. I think they will.
A previous version of the story misstated the date of the publication. It was published in 2020.
