FCC Chairman Says His Children Are Being Harassed

After proposing to dismantle net neutrality rules, and setting off a firestorm of criticism, Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said his family has become the target of harassment, according to The Washington Post.

During an interview Monday on “Fox & Friends,” viewers were shown cardboard signs that host Steve Doocy said were put up at Pai's home in suburban Virginia. One sign, appearing to refer to Pai's children, read: “They will come to know the truth. Dad murdered Democracy in cold blood.”

Ajit Pai

Pai said those signs crossed a line, even as he noted the charged debate over net neutrality.

Last week Pai took aim at the signature Obama-era regulation designed to ensure that all websites are treated equally by Internet providers. Under Pai's plan, those rules would be stripped, granting Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers see and use. Republicans hold three out of five seats at the FCC. And Pai said he expects the plan to pass at a Dec. 14 meeting on a party-line vote.

Pai has said his proposal would restore a “light-touch” regulatory framework for Internet services and would stop the government from micromanaging the Internet. Broadband and wireless companies such as Comcast and Verizon applauded Pai's move. But Internet companies and activists see the undoing of net neutrality as an invitation for corporate abuse, in which service providers block websites they do not like and charge Web companies for speedier delivery of their content.