President Joe Biden’s new nominee to the Federal Communications Commission, Gigi Sohn, has previously called for more censorship on social media. She faces the Senate Commerce Committee for confirmation this week.
Sohn is the founder of the activist group Public Knowledge, which has called for more government regulation of the internet and the media.
Sohn has previously suggested that the FCC should be given the power to regulate conservative media.
“For all my concerns about #Facebook, I believe that Fox News has had the most negative impact on our democracy,” she tweeted in October 2020. “It’s state-sponsored propaganda, with few if any opposing viewpoints.”
Her tweet suggested she believes by allowing cable companies to carry them, the government is endorsing content on such outlets.
She applauded the failed merger between Tribune Broadcasting and right-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2018.
Sohn has also touted the idea of using the FCC to censor media outlets by denying them licenses.
“Today is a good day for every American who believes that diversity of voices in the media is better for our democracy,” she wrote, adding that the FCC should “look at whether Sinclair is qualified to be a broadcast licensee at all.”
During Obama’s era, she was a counselor to FCC Chair Tom Wheeler who pioneered the “net neutrality” regulation that saw broadband providers defined as common carriers.
The White House described Sohn as “one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable, and democratic communications networks,” – meaning they want her on the FCC board because, as noted in an opinion piece in the WSJ, “She favors deploying the agency’s regulatory power to shackle broadband providers and silence conservative voices.”
If Sohn is confirmed, the five-member FCC leadership will be split 3 to 2 in favor of Democrat-leaning members. There is also a likelihood Sohn would be made the chair of the commission.
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