Mentions

Listen to an afternoon of micro-conversations, hosted by WNYC's Rebecca Carroll, featuring lawmakers, writers, artists and educators. This event was held at the Newark Public Library in partnership with Free Press.

A report that Verizon is thinking about acquiring Charter Communications, which recently acquired Time Warner Cable, has sent heads spinning.

"A Charter-Verizon deal would be a disaster," said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood, "sure to mean fewer choices and higher prices for customers already captive to the internet-access monopoly."

Today we take the freedom of the web for granted. Under Trump, maybe we shouldn't.

The appointment of new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has raised concerns among internet rights activists that laws ensuring Net Neutrality are now under threat.

Public interest groups, political organizers and free speech advocates expressed anger and alarm on Monday about President Trump’s decision to elevate Ajit Pai, a right-wing opponent of Net Neutrality, to lead the FCC.

A telecommunications lawyer who has served on the FCC since May 2012, Pai is a free-market advocate who has been sharply critical of new regulations adopted by Democrats in recent years.

Donald Trump has elevated Ajit Pai to chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, giving control over the agency to a reliable conservative who’s been opposed to pretty much every big action the commission has taken in recent years, from establishing Net Neutrality to protecting consumer privacy to restricting major cable mergers.

Ajit Pai may not be a household name, but he could end up changing the internet for American households.