FCC Continues Pushback on Formal Complaint Order Criticisms

as harming consumers. "Nothing is changing" with regard to how informal complaints are handled, he said. He called other coverage "fake news" and tweeted kudos to The Washington Post for a fact-check. The FCC's official Twitter account also lauded the Post story. The order has come under fire from some House Democrats (see 1807100069). Insinuations that filing any complaint will require a $225 filing look "false ... but I'm going to report on it and characterize it as probably true because I dislike" Chairman Ajit Pai, Nebraska College of Law assistant professor Gus Hurwitz tweeted, characterizing some coverage. R Street Institute technology policy fellow Joe Kane tweeted similarly about media coverage. An FCC spokesman emailed that the House Democrats' letter "is completely inaccurate" and that the draft order "would simply align the text of a rule with longstanding FCC practices [regarding formal complaints] that have been in place for years." He said the $225 fee for handling formal complaints "has been the norm" and there's no fee-less venue for formal complaints. Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood had criticisms of the proposed rule change's revised language on setting a carrier response deadline and elimination of text indicating no obligation to respond to a complainant when both sides are satisfied (see here and here). He tweeted (see here and here) that the FCC claim the proposed order contains no substantive changes is "the Chairman's office spin machine is in full gear" since it removes the agency's ability to decide on informal complaints.