On October 15, Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, promised that the FCC would “continue to rule” to clarify the “meaning” of Article 230, the most important Internet law that protects freedom of speech online.
Apparently, Pai never got around to it – and less than three months later, he also does not intend to explain that he has a short time. ‘[T]here is simply not enough time to complete the necessary administrative steps to resolve the rule provision. Given the reality, I do not believe it is appropriate to move forward, “he said. Protocol.
The reason he has little time is pretty simple: he retires on January 20 when Joe Biden becomes president of the United States.
But he can also give up, because the idea that the FCC has the power to do such a thing was ridiculous. As Recode explains in depth, that the FCC’s justification was effective in that it has the power to make the rules it has to make – flying in the face of the logic that Pai’s own FCC used to destroy net neutrality. But that did not stop Pai from claiming that the FCC has the authority to do so, a political tactic that has become so common in the Trump administration that my colleague Russell Brandom created a phrase for it: “Stunt legalism.”
It does not matter that Article 230 is actually not that difficult to understand – although it was admittedly not kept 60 minutes from earlier this week fell on his face. Here is our layout.