Ajit Pai, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during Donald Trump's first term, is separating from his former boss. and support Supreme Court orders ban on TikTok to move forward According to Business Insider's report.Pai and former Treasury official Thomas Feddo filed a letter last week urging the judge to uphold the law that would ban TikTok's operations within the U.S. border. This is despite Trump's pressure to stop the ban.
Pai's main argument is that there is existing legal precedent to support the legality of the law. Passed by Congress last year, it required ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell its platform or cease operations in the United States. Such a precedent: Pai itself cracks down on Chinese companies.
Back when Pai was head of the FCC, he designated two companies headquartered in China as National security threats– The agency banned mobile carriers from using government subsidies to buy telecommunications equipment from manufacturers Huawei and ZTE, arguing that those companies could work with the Chinese government to spy on Americans. This is a concern that is at least partly supported by findings from reporter and intelligence community–
Pai called the approach used to limit apps like TikTok in the Protecting Americans from Foreign Enemies Controlled Applications Act. It is “very similar” to his own efforts to deal with Chinese telecommunications equipment providers, noting that “Congress and the administration have routinely addressed specific laws or regulations.” Chinese controlled companies that pose a particular national security risk.”
Pai, meanwhile, finds himself at odds with Donald Trump 2024, who has submitted his own brief. Ask the court to postpone Given the Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok, he remains largely aligned with Trump in 2017-2021. Trump was the first to float a ban and tried to do it all on his own. through administrative orders in 2020, which was eventually blocked by a federal judge. Trump supports it too. Rules that limit sales It supplies equipment to companies like Huawei and ZTE to cut off Chinese companies' access to American technology.
But Trump changed his mind about his attack on TikTok earlier this year. After meeting with Jeff Yass, a major investor in TikTok and—you won't believe this!—a major Trump supporter at Nearly $100 million spent Conservatism caused this past election cycle. His support for the app was further cemented after its victory in the 2024 presidential election, which he believes was at least in part due to Popularity on TikTok– This will also come as a big surprise, but TikTok took off. Trump's support And suddenly, in an unrelated coincidence The app became More friendly to Trump-related content– That's crazy. How could something like that happen?
However, there is no indication that Pai will return to the Trump administration again. (He seems happy to play a role at a busy private equity firm.) Buy a telecommunications company) So it might be safe for him to take a stand against his old boss. If anything, Pai's position is more principled than Trump's. So give credit where it's due.