WASHINGTON — Liberal activists showed up outside of the home of Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Mother’s Day in protest of his plan to repeal Obama-era net neutrality regulations.
“The reason we are here is because Chairman Pai has made it very clear that he’s already decided this issue,” Kevin Zeese, co-director of the group Popular Resistance, told The Daily Caller News Foundation Sunday. “Before the public comment period even begins, he’s already said he’s getting rid of Title II, and he’s getting rid of net neutrality.”
About a dozen activists appeared outside Pai’s home at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. The group remained peaceful and did not appear to trespass onto private property.
The activists argue that Title II oversight is necessary to ensure that internet service providers, including Comcast and Verizon, cannot dictate what websites can access their network.
Chairman Pai asserts that Title II reclassification, which was passed under Obama, is unnecessary. He argues that Title II rules could harm the commercial internet.
“Companies like Google and Facebook and Netflix became household names precisely because we didn’t have the government micromanaging how the internet would operate,” Pai told Reason magazine in April.
“We didn’t pick it because it’s Mother’s Day,” Zeese claimed. He said the group will be out every day from Sunday through Thursday when the FCC holds its next public meeting. A number of vehicles honked in apparent support of the activists throughout the two-hour demonstration.
“The reason we are out here today is because on Thursday, Chairman Pai is putting in his suggestion, which he has already pre-determined the outcome of, for ending net neutrality, for ending common-carrier Title II designation,” Zeese explained.
Activists from Greenpeace joined Zeese who said he was happy with the turn out. “We have more moms than anybody,” he quipped.
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