Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is not the most popular person right now and a flood of mean tweets just proves that point. The controversial Donald Trump appointee is out to kill the net neutrality rules and a number of Americans are not too pleased with his actions.
Some of these disenchanted people have gone on Twitter to express their displeasure for Pai and the FCC chairman responded with his own version of "Mean Tweets" with the help of Independent Journal Review. "Mean Tweets" is a popular segment on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in which celebrities recite tweets about them. The FCC Chairman gamely read some mean tweets about him with one asking him directly "Why do you hate America?"
As Gizmodo pointed out, the chosen tweets were either racist or had grammatical or spelling errors which supposedly were meant to make Pai look good. The website even went as far as calling the skit "one of the most horrid attacks on comedy" ever. In other words, in his efforts to be funny, Pai only succeeded on mocking his haters.
The Twitterverse is not the only place where Pai has been derided. Talk shows such as HBO's late night show "Last Week Tonight" hosted by John Oliver have been on the offensive against the 44-year-old FCC chair born to Indian immigrants. Oliver asked his viewers to troll the FCC's website so that it would crash. He also created a website where angry Americans can express their disenchantment with Pai and the impending death of the net neutrality rules. Oliver also chided Pai's penchant for drinking from oversized Reese mugs which Pai answered at the end of his "Mean Tweets" skit shot right in the IJR studios.
All these frivolities, however, do not change the fact that a number of Americans are against the ditching of the net neutrality rules. More people are voicing their concerns about the changes being brought about by Pai who has been against the net neutrality rules since he was still an FCC commissioner under the Obama administration. Pai has already officially indicated last month that he will be pushing for reforms starting with the elimination of Title II which, if successful, will result in the limitation or even loss of free and open internet. In other words, without the net neutrality rules, internet service providers or ISPs will have control of the internet which will give them the option to prioritize certain subscribers over others.
To be fair, the FCC has taken some steps to assure people that it is considering the opinions of everyone. Pai mentioned in his "Future of Internet Regulation" speech last month that he will use the time between then and the May 18 initial voting to look into the comments and ideas of the public and major businesses.
Since the FCC website has been flooded by comments by real people and bots, the organization has decided to shut down the comment section. This move, according to the FCC, is meant for the commission to "reflect" on the issue before May 18, on which the people involved will decide the fate of the net neutrality rules.
