FCC's Pai: Enforcement Has Nothing To Do With Content

Ajit Pai

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday said the FCC this week shut down a pirate radio station because it was broadcasting illegally, not because it was known for airing controversial radio host Alex Jones, according to The Hill.

"Some have criticized the FCC for removing Mr. Jones from the airwaves in Austin allegedly because of the content of his program," Paj said during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. "Many others have praised us for allegedly taking that same action."

"It is important to make clear that our pirate radio enforcement, including this one, has nothing to do with the content that pirate radio stations air," he continued. "We act against pirate radio stations because they are violating the law by broadcasting on the FM airwaves without a license."

Jones in recent days has claimed to be the subject of censorship.

The Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday that the station, Liberty Radio, was hit with a $15,000 fine and temporarily pulled from the airwaves. The FCC is charging the station with illegally broadcasting on an FM wavelength.

"Normally our pirate radio efforts don’t make national news, but this one has, because the pirate radio station in question was airing Alex Jones’ show," Paj said.

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Jones, who founded the outlet InfoWars, has been booted from multiple social media platforms in the past week, including Facebook and YouTube, who claim he has violated their "hate speech" policies. His content has also been removed from Spotify and Vimeo, and Twitter suspended him temporarily for violating their policies.

Also Thursday, Pai revealed that White House counsel Don McGahn called him about the merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media last month as the deal was imploding due to opposition from regulators.

Pai made the revelation during an oversight hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, saying that McGahn had been making a “status inquiry” and was not expressing a view about the transaction.

President Trump has been a staunch defender of Sinclair and the broadcast giant has promoted the administration's talking points through "must-run" editorials distributed to its television stations around the country.

Pai has denied that the White House interfered in the proceeding.