Kent Leonhardt: FCC commissioner degrades freedoms and government

Given today’s political climate, it is more important than ever that we preserve our freedoms of free speech and press at all costs. In particular, West Virginia looks to the leadership of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a variety of issues related to such freedoms, including the lack of broadband internet access and robocalls that scam thousands of dollars from West Virginians. However, the Biden administration’s decision to re-nominate Gigi Sohn as an FCC commissioner is the last thing our state needs to combat these problems.

The FCC should be an independent, unbiased government agency that works to help Americans access the resources to communicate with each other, no matter their political, cultural, or social backgrounds. The possibility of a figure as polarizing and dubious like Gigi Sohn directly undermines the FCC’s ability to insulate itself from political bickering and do its jobs across the country and particularly in West Virginia.