The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seems to be taking his cues from his boss, Donald Trump.
The U.S. president is never one to back away from a good, old Twitter feud and neither is Ajit Pai.
READ MORE: 1.3M comments on net neutrality were likely faked, data expert says
On Sunday, the FCC Chair trolled actors Mark Ruffalo and Alyssa Milano.
On Saturday, Ruffalo asked Pai “Why are Putin’s bots working for you?” a reference to a recent report the FCC has been flooded with over a million bogus comments over net neutrality. Milano backed Ruffalo by asking Pai for comment.
Pai responded Sunday by tweeting, “Hello @Alyssa_Milano and @MarkRuffalo, the 445K comments you referenced, purporting to be from Russia, are in support of #netneutrality regulations.”
He then invited them to check for themselves by linking to a search tool.
Last Tuesday, the FCC began to dismantle net neutrality rules in the U.S., which equalized access to the internet and prevented broadband providers from favouring their own apps and services.
READ MORE: Net neutrality: Why Canadians should care about the internet changes in the U.S.
This feud has been ongoing for over a week now as Milano and Ruffalo are among many who are in support of net neutrality.
A Nov. 20 tweet from Milano seemed to catch Pai’s eye.
He responded in a speech a week later, CNet reported.
“I’m threatening our democracy? Really?” Pai asked jokingly. “If this were ‘Who’s the Boss?’ this would be an opportunity for Tony Danza to dish out some wisdom about the consequences of making things up.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins has voiced her support for net neutrality, leading some to say Pai’s fights with the actors are an effort to distract from the issue.
“Pai is clearly panicked he is losing Republicans. Hence, the attacks on Silicon Valley and Hollywood celebrities,” Harold Feld of the advocacy group Public Knowledge told CNet. “It’s usually a dead giveaway that someone is trying to snow you when they explain how criticism of a highly unpopular item claims that the facts are on his side and everyone else is subject to fear mongering or hysterics.”
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