Pai/Free Press Rhetoric in Net Neutrality Debate Points to Possibly Rancorous Proceeding
The sometimes-acrimonious rhetoric between FCC GOP Chairman Ajit Pai and Free Press on net neutrality could be a harbinger of how the debate plays out, experts tell us. Pai's attack last month on the group that often backs regulation and President Craig Aaron, (see 1704260054) might indicate some concerns the chairman might lose the debate, said consultant Jerry Mechling, formerly a vice president at Gartner and faculty member at Harvard's Kennedy School.
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Some were surprised Pai singled out Free Press. "It didn't sound like him; it sounded like it was coming out of someone else’s mouth,” said Gigi Sohn, previously an aide to then-Democratic Chairman Tom Wheeler and now a fellow at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Technology Law & Policy. “That's not how he plays. Someone convinced him that was the way to go, go hard right, and use this organization as a bogeyman.” The FCC didn't comment.
Heated rhetoric -- with Pai in April saying Aaron "takes his inspiration from Venezuela" and Free Press frequently pointing out that Pai is a former Verizon lobbyist -- was predictable, a former commissioner said, since hotly contested proceedings often follow the same rhythm, with rhetoric rising at inflection points such as at particular deadlines. Commissioners' meeting where a net neutrality order is considered will bring with it a lot of hyperventilation, the former commissioner said. The meeting earlier this month where commissioners voted on party lines to approve a proposal to roll back common-carrier regulation of broadband service saw protests and other issues (see 1705180029). Pai similarly criticized Free Press in 2015, calling it "a far-left interest group ... founded by somebody who praises Hugo Chavez and thinks the capitalist system should be dismantled brick by brick" (see 1509150061).
In public policy debates where one is confident of winning, the typical tactic is to remain largely quiet, but if there are concerns it could go the other way, the best tactic is to publicize the issue and appeal to a public that isn't paying attention but in opposition to the party criticizing you, Mechling said. "People will pay attention to a fight," he said. "Sometimes you win on the issues, sometimes you win by who the opponent is." Mechling said aggressively attacking motives of an opponent is more popular than ever. Though Pai has reputation of being amenable, Mechling said, “in today's political communications, you don’t lose anything being nasty.” One danger is losing legislative support, he added.
While dialogue at the FCC traditionally has been less barbed, there have been personalities like then-Commissioner Nicholas Johnson, "who was famous for giving you the unvarnished Nicholas Johnson [and was] regarded as kind of incendiary," said Matthew Spitzer, director of Northwestern's Searle Center on Law, Regulation and Economic Growth. He said the level of emotion on the proposed Communications Act Title II rollback was surprising, pointing to issues like picketing outside Pai's Virginia home. "We’re going to have interesting times the next couple of years," he said. Politicians of both parties have condemned some of those picketing tactics, which may have involved protestors invading the privacy of Pai and his family.
"I would love to simply debate this on the facts," Aaron said. "Then the chairman of the FCC runs around putting out bogus data, launching personal attacks against us. That's fine, that's politics. This is a political fight. We can take a punch and come back."
The former commissioner said the tone has been getting more heated at the FCC in recent years in part because of the general climate in Washington. Such rhetoric ends up being not constructive since it can spook people who otherwise would have sought compromise, the former commissioner said. The war of words likely won't affect the net neutrality proceeding to a big degree, the former commissioner said, saying Pai has made clear he would follow the facts and apply the law.
Sohn said it’s uncommon for policy debates to become rancorous, and singling out a group ends up helping those groups by raising their profile. She said Pai has to be held to a different standard in public comments from Free Press staff due to being a public servant. When serving at the FCC, Sohn said, she often had trolls “trying to incite me. As a policymaker, you have to resist that temptation, because then you look small.” She hopes the debate doesn’t continue along the same lines: “We can debate whether ISPs should be able to self-regulate. Let’s not talk about whether this one is a sellout.”