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Michael O'Rielly

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For persons of a similar name, see Michael O'Reilly (disambiguation).

Michael O'Rielly
Commissioner of the
Federal Communications Commission
In office
November 4, 2013 – December 14, 2020
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Preceded byRobert M. McDowell[1]
Succeeded byNathan Simington
Personal details
BornLockport, New York[2]
Political partyRepublican[3]
Alma materUniversity of Rochester
WebsiteFCC biography[dead link]

Michael O'Rielly is a former commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent agency of the United States government. He was nominated by President Barack Obama in August 2013[3] and was confirmed on October 29, 2013, taking office on November 4, 2013.[4] He was nominated to complete the term of outgoing commissioner Robert M. McDowell which ended on June 30, 2014. He was then renominated and reconfirmed by the Senate.[1][5]

On August 3, 2020, the White House announced that President Trump was withdrawing O'Rielly's nomination to another term after Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe said he would put a hold on the nomination and after O'Rielly expressed reservations about the FCC's authority to limit social media companies' legal protections.[6]

Education

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Commissioner O'Rielly received his B.A. from the University of Rochester.[4]

Career

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O'Rielly began his career as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Tom Bliley from 1994 to 1995. He then served as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2003, and Telecommunications Policy Analyst from 1995 to 1998.

From 2003 to 2009, O'Rielly worked in the office of U.S. Senator John E. Sununu, where he served as the Senior Legislative Assistant and later the Legislative Director. From 2009 to 2010, O'Rielly worked for the Republican Policy Committee in the U.S. Senate as a Policy Analyst for Banking, Technology, Transportation, Trade, and Commerce issues. From 2010 to 2013, O'Rielly worked in the office of the Senate Republican Whip as a policy advisor for U.S. Senator John Cornyn, and as a policy advisor, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Policy Director for U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.

Policy

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Commissioner O'Rielly speaking at the 32nd Annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy & Regulation presented by PLI/FCBA

During his term as FCC Commissioner, O'Rielly voted against a proposal that would reclassify Internet service providers as Title II Common Carriers and impose net neutrality rules,[7] a proposal that would overturn state laws that prevent Internet service providers from competition from municipal broadband providers,[8] a proposal to change the technical definition of "broadband Internet" from at least 4 Mbps to at least 25 Mbps,[9] a proposal to use the LifeLine phone service subsidy program to subsidize broadband access to poor people,[10] and a 2015 ruling that expanded consumer protections against Robodialers.[11]

It is important to note that Internet access is not a necessity in the day-to-day lives of Americans and doesn't even come close to the threshold to be considered a basic human right... People do a disservice by overstating its relevancy or stature in people's lives. People can and do live without Internet access, and many lead very successful lives.

— Michael O'Rielly, June 25, 2015, Slate[12]

O'Rielly had reportedly expressed to Trump that he "had deep reservations"[13] about the President's attempt to use his executive powers to order the FCC to limit the ability of online platforms to determine what they allowed on their platform, specifically his request that Section 230 legal protections be withdrawn from platforms that label or remove content shared by users which was deemed misleading, or otherwise violated their terms of service. The White House had drafted the Executive Order in May, after Twitter had applied fact-checking labels to two of the President's tweets where he alleged widespread voter fraud by the Democratic Party.[14]

O'Rielly later clarified his position in a speech, stating, "the First Amendment protects us from limits on speech imposed by the government—not private actors—and we should all reject demands, in the name of the First Amendment, for private actors to curate or publish speech in a certain way. Like it or not, the First Amendment's protections apply to corporate entities..."[15] Five days after the speech, without offering any additional information or a documented reason, Trump announced that he rescinded O'Rielly's nomination.[14] O'Rielly's tenure had officially expired in 2019, though he was permitted to serve through the end of 2020, or be reconfirmed for the position for another five years.[15] Trump chose to instead nominate Simington, who shared Trump's views on the matter. As a lawyer for the Commerce Department, Simington had helped write the petition to the FCC, which asked them to enforce Trump's executive order, and limit the legal protections of those online platforms which the White House deemed to be limiting the speech of conservative figures, even though such limitation on purely political speech has always been anecdotal.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b R. J. Quianzon (October 30, 2013). "Michael O'Rielly". CommLawBlog. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  2. ^ O'Rielly, Michael (September 18, 2013). "Statement of Michael P. O'Rielly Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation September 18, 2013". Senate Committee Testimony. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Retrieved January 13, 2014. By way of background, I was born and raised in a small city located on the Erie Canal, just outside Buffalo, New York. ... The people of Lockport are hearty, hard working, holders of strong faith, and fans of the Buffalo Bills.
  3. ^ a b "Obama picks O'Rielly for Republican FCC seat". The Hill. August 2, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Commissioner Michael O'Rielly". FCC.gov. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  5. ^ Kim, Anne L. (December 17, 2014), "Senate Confirms FCC's O'Rielly", Roll Call, archived from the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved February 27, 2015
  6. ^ "Trump withdraws nomination of Republican FCC commissioner to serve new term". Reuters. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  7. ^ Jon Brodkin (February 26, 2015). "FCC votes for net neutrality, a ban on paid fast lanes, and Title II". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  8. ^ Jon Brodkin (February 26, 2015). "FCC overturns state laws that protect ISPs from local competition". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  9. ^ Jon Brodkin (January 29, 2015). "FCC chairman mocks industry claims that customers don't need faster Internet". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  10. ^ Mark Wigfield (June 18, 2015). "FCC Takes Steps to Modernize and Reform Lifeline for Broadband" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  11. ^ Eggerton, John (June 18, 2015). "FCC Clarifies Robocall Rules". Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  12. ^ Lily Hay Newman (June 29, 2015). "FCC Commissioner Says Internet Access Is "Not a Necessity"". Slate. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  13. ^ Brodkin, Jon (August 4, 2020). "Trump pulls re-nomination of FCC Republican who stood up for First Amendment". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  14. ^ a b c McCabe, David (October 27, 2020). "Trump Allies Amp Up Fight Over Tech's Legal Shield Before Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (September 16, 2020). "Trump replaces FCC member in bid to push through Twitter/Facebook crackdown". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
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