FCC slapped with lawsuit demanding public disclosure of correspondence in net neutrality debate

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been sued by American Oversight, an ethical watchdog, for failing to provide the records of correspondence between internet service providers and the FCC.

On April 26, the American organization which claims to be an ethical watchdog said in its blogpost that under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) in April, it had asked for all records of correspondence between, firstly, the Indian-origin  FCC chairman Ajit Pai, and the service providers and secondly, between Ajit Pai or his staff and congressmen. The group had asked for all forms of correspondence like calendar dates, e-mails, telephonic conversations, meeting agendas that point towards any point of contact between the concerned two parties and more in the net neutrality case.

“The FCC has made it clear that they’re ignoring feedback from the general public, so we’re going to court to find out who they’re actually listening to about Net Neutrality. If the Trump administration is going to let industry lobbyists rewrite the rules of the Internet for millions of Americans, we’re going to make them do it in full view of the public,” said Austin Evers, Executive Director of American Oversight.

The organization has now moved to the court to understand on what basis the decision on net neutrality was taken. Ajit Pai, earlier this year, had announced that he would be removing the net neutrality act which is supposed to ensure free internet to all. The decision to end net neutrality was meted out with criticism from both, people and various tech firms.