Video produced and edited by Josh Miller-Lewis and Nes Sanchez

AT&T, Verizon, Comcast & other telecom companies are running a ruthless campaign to kill Biden’s FCC nominee Gigi Sohn. Why? If Sohn is confirmed the FCC could restore net neutrality and expand broadband. We uncovered the corporate lobbyists secretly waging war on Gigi Sohn with Mark Stanley from Demand Progress. Below is a full transcript of the video:

[News]: President Biden’s new FCC nominee is being hailed by the White House as a leading advocate for open affordable and democratic communications networks, but is that just code for media censor?

[News]: Gigi uh the name sounds a little funky and the glasses make me think twice but she seems like she has a radical agenda.

[News]: Her name is Gigi Sohn. How petrified should every American be about her nomination?

Mark Stanley: Some right-wing groups are outraged over President Biden’s choice to fill the last seat on the Federal Communications Commission. They CLAIM to be furious over her tweets criticizing Fox News. But these are the same people who spent the last 6 years defending Donald Trump’s tweets.

So what’s the REAL reason Republicans are marshaling all of their resources to defeat Gigi Sohn?

[Roy Blunt, at hearing]: U.S. telecom which would be AT&T and verizon and others and cable group ncta have written letters expressing…that you should be recused from all those issues.

Mark Stanley: Corporate America is terrified that Sohn and the FCC may finally stop cable and internet companies from ripping us off.

[Gigi Sohn, at hearing]: I think there are certain very large companies who would like to see the fcc continue to be deadlocked.” – Gigi Sohn

Mark Stanley: You see, Sohn wants to ensure the internet is accessible to every American, not as a luxury but as a right – her common-sense stances and the possibility of a fully-staffed FCC are seen as threats to the profits of companies like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast. 

Sohn believes we should reinstate net neutrality, take on providers who rip off customers and expand affordable broadband to rural and low-income areas.

But as long as Sohn is unconfirmed, the FCC will remain deadlocked and lack the full ability to stop internet providers from blocking content, throttling traffic or charging outrageous fees. 

Now, corporate America has launched an all out war on Sohn.

More Perfect Union researched who is funding the war on Gigi Sohn.

The Center for a Free Economy launched an ad campaign claiming Sohn would “advance [Democrats] cancel-culture agenda.” What the Center doesn’t mention is that its president is a lobbyist for Cox Enterprises, the third largest cable company in the country.

FreedomWorks has also spent thousands of dollars alleging that “Gigi Sohn wants to investigate and regulate conservative networks.” Of course FreedomWorks received $10k from the National Association of Broadcasters in 2019 and has a history of running astroturf campaigns for Verizon, another major funder.

Then there is the American Accountability Foundation, founded by  which recently started running this ad promoting the Fraternal Order of Police’s opposition to Sohn:

What are Gigi Sohn’s supposedly “extreme views”? She supports encryption to ensure your data and messages remain secure and confidential. The blue that the Fraternal Order of Police is backing isn’t the police. It’s AT&T who they formed an exclusive partnership with in 2020.

And the list of groups opposing Sohn who have received major backing from telecom companies goes on and on.

The Chamber of Commerce received $850,000 from Comcast in 2020 and $170,100 from AT&T in 2021.

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance took in $20,000 from NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, whose members include Comcast and Charter Communications.

Americans for Tax Reform got up to $100,000 from Verizon and tens of thousands more from cable company trade groups backed by Comcast.

Don’t be fooled by the attacks on Gigi Sohn as an extremist – she’s anything but. The campaign to oppose Sohn’s nomination is being waged by extremely profitable telecom companies against a true public champion… and against policies like net neutrality that the overwhelming majority of Americans support.

The Senate needs to confirm Gigi Sohn immediately to ensure affordable, high-speed broadband for every American and an open internet free from Big Cable’s gatekeeping and abusive practices.