Anti-Section 230 FCC Nom Nathan Simington Clears Senate Hurdle

LOS ANGELES—Just two days after Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai announced that he would resign from the board on January 20, Donald Trump’s new FCC nominee took a step closer to Senate approval. On Wednesday, Nathan Simington’s nomination was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, on a party-line vote. According to a report by the entertainment industry news site Deadline, Simington’s nomination was passed by the committee on a 14-12 vote, with all 14 Republicans approving his nomination, and all 12 Democrats in opposition. Simington has been an active opponent of the internet free speech law known as Section 230 — a law that is especially important to the online adult industry, which would be at risk of widespread censorship without it. AVN earlier reported on how Section 230 affects adult online content at this link.  But Simington was chosen by Trump after Republican FCC board member Michael O'Rielly made statements that appeared to be critical of Trump’s attempts to rewrite or repeal Section 230. O'Rielly had been nominated for a second term in the FCC, but Trump pulled the nomination after those statements. Instead, he nominated Simington, a telecom industry lawyer who authored an executive order signed by Trump in May, calling for a “review” of Section 230 by the FCC. Despite controversy over whether the FCC had the authority to review and possibly revise a law passed by Congress, Pai said that the board with go ahead with the review as Trump had ordered. But his departure on January 20 leaves the future of that review in doubt. Pai’s term does not expire until June, but if he goes ahead with his plan to step down in January, the FCC will be left with only three members, two Democrats and one Republican.  If Simington is approved by the full Senate before then, however, he would even the board’s composition, temporarily, at 2-2. But President-Elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated on January, and appears certain to appoint a Democrat to the seat vacated by Pai, creating a 3-2 Democratic majority on the FCC. Simington’s nomination process had previously been blocked by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who said the he would hold up the nomination unless Simington agreed to recuse himself from any FCC decisions regarding Section 230.  At Wednesday’s Commerce Committee hearing, Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell said that Simington had not been candid with the committee during his confirmation hearings. Simington did not tell the whole truth about his attempts to “do the president’s bidding” on Section 230 issues, Cantwell said. The current “lame duck” Senate session is set to end by January 3. No date has yet been set for a full Senate vote on Simington’s nomination to the FCC. Photo by Nathan Simington Linkedin Page