Gigi Sohn

{{Infobox person

| name = Gigi B. Sohn

| image = Gigi-Sohn-Public-Knowledge-IP3-Awards-2012.jpg

| alt = A photo of Gigi Sohn from the Public Knowledge IP3 awards event in 2012

| caption = Sohn in 2012

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|8|2}}

| birth_place =

| spouse = {{marriage|Lara Ballard|2007|}}

| children = 1

| education = Boston University (BS)
University of Pennsylvania (JD)

}}

Gigi Beth Sohn{{cite web |url=https://www.martindale.com/attorney/gigi-beth-sohn-381387/ |title=Gigi Beth Sohn Profile}} (born August 2, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the co-founder (with Laurie Racine{{cite web |title=Team |url=http://startl.org/about/who-we-are/ |website=Startl |access-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103004734/http://startl.org/about/who-we-are/ |archive-date=November 3, 2010}} and David Bollier) of Public Knowledge.{{cite web |url=http://www.law.stanford.edu/event/2011/03/01/gigi-sohn-president-and-co-founder-of-public-knowledge |publisher=Stanford Law School |date=March 1, 2011 |title=Gigi Sohn, President and Co-Founder of Public Knowledge |accessdate=June 20, 2014}} She previously worked for the Ford Foundation.{{cite journal|publisher=Ford Foundation |url=http://www.fordfoundation.org/pdfs/library/ar2000.pdf |title=Annual Report 2000 |journal=Annual Report |page=17 |accessdate=June 20, 2014 |issn=0071-7274 |date=April 2001|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908131009/http://www.fordfoundation.org/pdfs/library/ar2000.pdf |archivedate=September 8, 2012 }} In 2013, Tom Wheeler hired her into a senior staff position at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).{{cite web |author=Wyatt, Edward |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/business/fccs-chief-hires-a-critic-of-the-agency.html |title=FCC's Chief Hires a Critic of the Agency |work=New York Times |date=November 5, 2013 |accessdate=June 20, 2014}} She left there shortly after Donald Trump's election in 2016. In July 2017, she held fellowship positions with Georgetown Law's Institute for Technology Law & Policy, Open Society Foundations, and Mozilla.{{cite magazine

| last = Brodkin | first = Jon | date = July 12, 2017 | title = How to write a meaningful FCC comment supporting net neutrality: Former FCC official explains how to get your point across to Ajit Pai

| magazine = Ars Technica

| url = https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/saving-net-neutrality-tips-for-writing-persuasive-comments-to-the-fcc/

| accessdate = July 27, 2017}}

Early life and education

Sohn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in broadcasting and film from Boston University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.{{cite web |title=Gigi B. Sohn (bio) |url=https://www.pli.edu/faculty/gigi-b.-sohn-5137 |website=Practicing Law Institute |access-date=March 16, 2022 |archive-date=March 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316130242/https://www.pli.edu/faculty/gigi-b.-sohn-5137 |url-status=dead }}

Career

From 2013 to 2016, Gigi served as Counselor to Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and from 2001 to 2013 was co-founder and CEO of Public Knowledge, a communications and technology policy advocacy organization serving the interests of consumers. She was previously a Project Specialist in the Ford Foundation’s Media, Arts and Culture unit and Executive Director of the Media Access Project, a communications public interest law firm.{{cite magazine |url=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2008/07/ljarchives/lj-qa-knowledge-is-power-gigi-sohn/ |magazine=Library Journal |date=May 21, 2010 |title=LJ Q&A: Knowledge is Power-Gigi Sohn |first=Andrew Richard |last=Albanese |accessdate=June 20, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407152940/http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2008/07/ljarchives/lj-qa-knowledge-is-power-gigi-sohn/ |url-status=dead }}

She is a non-resident fellow at the University of Southern California Annenberg Center, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Law. She has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She is known for her "personal relationships with power players all over the capital."{{cite web |first=Sara|last=Jerome |url=https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/77519-head-of-consumer-group-takes-on-fccs-net-neutrality-plan/ |title=Head of consumer group takes on FCC's net neutrality plan |work=The Hill |date=December 15, 2010 |access-date=June 20, 2014}}

Sohn is an EFF Pioneer Award winner.{{cite web |url=https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2006/04/27 |title=EFF Honors Craigslist, Gigi Sohn, and Jimmy Wales with Pioneer Awards |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |date=April 27, 2006 |accessdate=June 20, 2014}} In November 2013, she was hired by the FCC as special counsel for external affairs. Sohn is the host of Tech on the Rocks, a podcast focused on media, tech policy and broadband.

From 2018 to 2021, Sohn sat on the board of Sports Fan Coalition, doing business as Locast, an app that captured and retransmitted local broadcast signals over the internet pursuant to an exemption in the copyright law for nonprofits. Viewers could stream the content for free, though it accepted donations. The service was taken down as the result of a copyright lawsuit brought by the owners of the major television networks.{{Cite web |title=Biden FCC Nominee Settles Case That Spurred GOP Senator's Fight |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telecom-law/fcc-nominees-settlement-undercuts-rationale-for-blocking-her |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Bloomberg Law |language=en}}

Since 2018, Sohn has been a member of the Board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.{{cite web |title=Gigi Sohn |url=https://www.eff.org/about/staff/gigi-sohn |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation |access-date=7 March 2023 |language=en |date=25 March 2019}}

=FCC nomination=

On October 26, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Sohn to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.{{cite web |title=President Biden Announces Key Nominations |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/26/president-biden-announces-key-nominations-8/ |website=The White House |date=October 26, 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2022}}{{Cite news|last=Naylor|first=Brian|date=October 26, 2021|title=Biden makes 2 key, boundary-breaking FCC nominations|language=en|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1049301069/biden-fcc-nominations-rosenworcel-sohn|access-date=October 26, 2021}} While supported by Senate Democrats, Sohn's nomination was opposed by Republicans, alleging that she would censor conservative speech, and claiming her past involvement in Locast was a conflict of interest.{{Cite web |last=Hendel |first=John |title=Midterm politicking comes for Biden's stalled tech nominee |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/18/midterm-politics-endanger-bidens-tech-agenda-00025417 |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=POLITICO |date=April 18, 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Brodkin |first=Jon |date=2021-11-10 |title=Sen. Lindsey Graham: "I will do everything in my power" to block Biden FCC pick |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/republicans-fight-biden-fcc-pick-gigi-sohn-claim-shell-censor-conservatives/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |last=Hodge |first=Rae |date=2023-02-16 |title="A major injustice is being done": Biden's FCC nominee faces dark money, homophobic smears |url=https://www.salon.com/2023/02/16/a-major-injustice-is-being-done-bidens-fcc-nominee-faces-dark-money-homophobic-smears/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Salon |language=en}} The Wall Street Journal editorial board additionally criticized her opposition to the acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Contrarily, Sohn was endorsed by Chris Ruddy and Robert Harring—the heads of the conservative news channels Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN)—for policy positions on media diversity deemed favorable to independent broadcasters.{{Cite web |author1=Margaret Harding McGill |author2=Sara Fischer |date=2021-11-30 |title=Newsmax and OAN defy conservatives, back Biden's FCC pick |url=https://www.axios.com/2021/11/30/conservative-media-bidens-fcc-pick-gigi-sohn |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Axios |language=en}}

Sohn faced intense lobbying and astroturfing efforts from the telecom industry,{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=2022-04-13 |title=Big Telecom Astroturfers Smear FCC Nom Gigi Sohn In Arizona |url=https://www.techdirt.com/2022/04/13/big-telecom-astroturfers-smear-fcc-nom-gigi-sohn-in-arizona/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Techdirt |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=2022-04-19 |title=Telecom Lobby Targets Senators Manchin, Kelly, And Cortez Masto In Bid To Scuttle Sohn FCC Nomination |url=https://www.techdirt.com/2022/04/19/telecom-lobby-targets-senators-manchin-kelly-and-cortez-masto-in-bid-to-scuttle-sohn-fcc-nomination/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Techdirt |language=en-US}} including groups with reported ties such as the League of United Latin American Citizens,Heidi Heitkamp's Democratic PAC One Country Project (which cited inconsistent commitments to rural broadband, and was alleged to have been paid by Comcast in an attempt to flip moderate Democrats),{{Cite web |title=Former Dem senator launches campaign to squash Gigi Sohn's FCC confirmation |url=https://www.broadbandworldnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=777031 |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Broadband World News}} and the Fraternal Order of Police (which criticized her support of police reform).{{Cite web |title=Police, Republicans, Even a Democrat Pile On Biden FCC Pick |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telecom-law/police-group-republicans-even-democrats-pile-on-fcc-nominee |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Bloomberg Law |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=2022-05-06 |title=Fraternal Order Of Police Helps Boost Telecom Smear Campaign Against FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn |url=https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/06/fraternal-order-of-police-helps-boost-telecom-smear-campaign-against-fcc-nominee-gigi-sohn/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Techdirt |language=en-US}}

Initial hearings were held before the Senate Commerce Committee on her nomination on December 1, 2021. Sohn's initial nomination stalled in the committee and was returned to Biden on January 3, 2022,{{cite web |title=PN1323 — Gigi B. Sohn — Federal Communications Commission 117th Congress (2021-2022) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/1323?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22sohn%22%2C%22sohn%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=2 |website=US Congress |date = January 3, 2022|access-date=March 23, 2022}} after which she was renominated. The committee held a second round of hearings to examine Sohn's nomination on February 9, 2022, with a focus on a previously-undisclosed settlement by Locast that was signed a day after her original nomination was announced. This second hearing fell outside the normal process for re-nomination, which typically does not involve a second hearing. On March 3, 2022, the committee deadlocked on the nomination in a party-line vote. The entire Senate failed to move her out of committee on a discharge petition.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

On January 3, 2023, at the conclusion of the 117th Congress, her nomination was again returned to the White House and Sohn was again re-nominated for the post. Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell described the lobbying campaigns against Sohn as being a "proxy fight for net neutrality", while veteran television executive Preston Padden (who worked with Sohn and Rupert Murdoch on regulatory matters for Fox) warned that she was ”in danger of falling victim to the worst, and most cynical and baseless smear campaign ever waged against a nominee to serve on the FCC."{{Cite web |last=Eggertonpublished |first=John |date=2023-01-30 |title=Preston Padden: ISPs Complicit in Smear Campaign Against FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/preston-padden-isps-complicit-in-smear-campaign-against-fcc-nominee-gigi-sohn |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Broadcasting Cable |language=en}} Consumer Technology Association (CTA) president Gary J. Shapiro suspected that the deadlock was the result of homophobia, as Sohn would have been the first FCC commissioner to be openly gay.{{Cite web |title=Smear campaign targets nominee who would be FCC's first openly gay commissioner |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/fcc-gigi-sohn-nomination-turns-ugly-rcna68224 |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=NBC News |date=February 3, 2023 |language=en}}

On February 14, 2023, the Commerce Committee held a third nomination hearing. On March 7, Sohn withdrew her nomination, citing extensive lobbying and "unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks" against her.{{cite news |last1=Zakrzewski |first1=Cat |title=Biden FCC nominee withdraws, following bruising lobbying battle |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/07/gigi-sohn-withdraws-fcc-nomination/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=7 March 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Feiner |first1=Lauren |last2=Capoot |first2=Ashley |title=Biden FCC nominee Gigi Sohn withdraws, citing 'cruel attacks' in battle with cable and media industries |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/biden-fcc-nominee-gigi-sohn-withdraws-citing-cruel-attacks-.html |website=CNBC |date=March 7, 2023 |access-date=7 March 2023}}

=American Association for Public Broadband=

In May 2023, Sohn became executive director of the newly formed American Association for Public Broadband which represents community-owned broadband networks and co-ops.{{Cite web |title=Gigi Sohn Announced as New Executive Director of the American Association for Public Broadband |url=https://broadbandbreakfast.com/gigi-sohn-announced-as-new-executive-director-of-the-american-association-for-public-broadband/ |date=May 3, 2023 |last1=Whipple |first1=Teralyn |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Broadband Breakfast |language=en}}

Personal life

Sohn married Lara Ballard in August 2007.{{cite web |first=Joshua|last=Kurlantzick |title=A Red Carpet for Gay Weddings |work=New York Times |url=http://www.travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/travel/escapes/11gay.html |date=April 11, 2008 |accessdate=June 20, 2014}}