Ajit Pai will not be speaking at next week’s massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to an email sent to media covering the event. The Federal Communications Commission chair cancelled after receiving death threats, according to anonymous sources cited by Recode and Axios.
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It’s not the first time Pai’s security has been threatened. In December, he led the FCC’s controversial repeal of open internet regulations known as net neutrality. During Pai’s remarks, the FCC chambers were abruptly evacuated to investigate a security threat.
The repeal scrapped regulations that required internet providers to treat all traffic the same without giving priority or slowing down any lawful content. Net neutrality advocates expressed outrage online and in protests in the months leading up to the FCC vote and in the wake of it. Pai says he and his family have become the target of aggressive harassment.
Pai was scheduled to speak with Federal Trade Commission Chair Maureen Ohlhausen about technology policy at CES.
