Let’s go! Historic nominees to the FCC and FTC just moved forward. Senate leadership should schedule a floor vote ASAP.

Today the Senate Commerce Committee advanced FCC nominee Gigi Sohn and FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya. These are historic nominees to agencies that are essential for ensuring affordable access to the open Internet and addressing the harms of Big Tech monopolies, privacy violations, algorithmic discrimination and surveillance. 

Digital rights group Fight for the Future, issued the following statement, which can be attributed to director Evan Greer (she/her):

“For far too long, Federal agencies like the FCC and FTC have been effectively captured by the industries they are supposed to regulate. The revolving door between industry and government has given us FCC leadership like Ajit Pai, who recklessly repealed net neutrality protections, sparking some of the largest online protests in human history. 

It’s long past time that we see truly qualified experts and champions for the public interest like Gigi Sohn and Alvaro Bedoya take positions in these agencies. Their confirmations have already been unacceptably delayed thanks to disingenuous opposition from Big Tech and Big Telecom lobbyists and their enablers in Congress. Now that these nominees have cleared their committee vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must move as quickly as possible to schedule a floor vote. There is no time to lose in getting the FCC and FTC back up and running. There is much to do, from ensuring affordable broadband access to rural areas, low income folks, and communities of color to cracking down on Big Tech’s discriminatory algorithms, privacy violations, and biometric surveillance practices. Let’s get this done!”

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