Judicial Watch Sues FCC Over Title II Documents

Conservative group Judicial Watch has filed suit against the FCC to get documents it says the commission has not produced in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

On the same day the FCC was voting to launch the rollback of Title II classification, the group said the commission had failed to turn over records related to the 2015 Internet Order that imposed Title II and the White House's influence on the decision.

President Barack Obama came out publicly—in an online video—calling for Title II, which the FCC under Tom Wheeler eventually voted to impose.

Related: Francis Ford Coppola Video Takes Aim at Title II Rollback

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the group says the FCC failed to respond to two FOIA requests. Both those requests were made under new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who has also accused the White House of pressuring the FCC to move to Title II, including referring to the Open Internet order as Obama's rules.

An FCC spokesperson had no comment on the suit.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.