On November 10, Nathan Simington, Trump’s nominee to replace FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, was questioned by Senators at a nominations hearing. Nathan Simington is a Senior Adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Association, which petitioned the FCC for rulemaking on clarifying Section 230. Senators questioned Simington about his role in the petition for rulemaking, which he said was only helping with editing and public relations. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed that Simington “acted as an arm of the president.” Simington testified that he ceased involvement in the petition when he knew he was being considered for the Commissioner opening, but he did say that he believes Section 230 needs to be reformed. Simington testified that he would follow the FCC’s ethics counsel recommendations for recusing himself on a vote about the Section 230 rulemaking. Read more here.
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
