MRC Free Speech America joined more than a dozen free speech advocates to urge key senators to oppose Biden’s George Soros-tied, pro-censorship FCC commissioner pick, Gigi Sohn.
Fifteen free speech advocates, including MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider, signed a letter to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) urging them to oppose Sohn’s nomination. The letter provided evidence that Sohn is a “partisan actor” who is “unqualified” to be Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner, with “serious conflicts of interest.”
Media Research Center founder and president Brent Bozell has been outspoken on the issue from the beginning, tweeting back in Nov. 2021 that Sohn was a seriously problematic pick. “Biden's pick for the FCC is an enemy of free speech,” Bozell said in a tweet thread. “Her views are a threat to free speech online and on TV. Senators should oppose Sohn's ridiculous nomination.”
MRC Free Speech America previously reported on Sohn’s multiple ties, including financial ties, to radical leftist billionaire George Soros.
The letter began by pointing out why Sohn is “unfit” to serve on the FCC. “Sohn's desire to regulate broadband, mandate government-owned networks, and disregard intellectual property protections are truly disconcerting,” the signees stated in the letter. Sohn’s ideas are all based on government overreach.
She also has serious conflicts of interest with telecommunications companies, the letter continued. “Sohn raked in six figure consulting fees from a think tank funded by many of the major telecommunications companies she is charged with overseeing if she is confirmed.” That undermines her supposed objectivity.
“Ms. Sohn has clearly illustrated she is a partisan actor,” the letter concluded, “repeatedly calling for censoring major conservative news outlets and campaigning for cable and satellite providers to drop them from their networks altogether.”
Sohn has deep ties to leftist billionaire George Soros. Public Knowledge, of which Sohn was formerly President, received at least $1,148,984 from Soros’ Open Society Foundations between 2016 and 2020. Open Society Foundations also named Sohn a 2017 “Leadership in Government” fellow. “On Jan 16, I start a Leadership in Government Fellowship @OpenSociety Foundations. I'll be speaking, writing, etc. Follow me at @gigibsohn,” Sohn celebrated on Twitter in December 2016.
Other signatories to the letter included American Principles Project President Terry Schilling and Policy Director Jon Schweppe, Internet Accountability Project President Mike Davis, ForAmerica President David Bozell, Young Jewish Conservatives Director Yitz Tendler, and Bull Moose Project President Aiden Buzzetti.
Sen. Cruz, one of the letter’s receivers, already expressed opposition to Sohn in a February 14 press release. Cruz called Sohn an “extreme partisan” with “bad judgment and poor ethics” who could spur “a partisan FCC going down a dark path in attempting to censor what we see, hear, read, and ultimately, think.” The White House attempted to cushion Sohn’s nomination by claiming she wouldn’t chair the FCC if confirmed, according to The Washington Post.
Sohn has openly mocked the idea that there is biased censorship of conservatives online and indicated she would censor non-leftist voices. She campaigned furiously against Fox News, including in one Oct. 2020 tweet where she said, “For all my concerns about #Facebook, I believe that Fox News has had the most negative impact on our democracy. It’s state-sponsored propaganda.” She has not posted on Twitter since Oct. 2021, however.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your senators and demand that government agencies and Big Tech be held to account to uphold the First Amendment and that Sohn not be confirmed. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
