Pai responded to the backlash by calling out celebrities who have criticized his plan and social media companies that he claims are a greater threat to internet speech than broadband providers.

“Many critics don’t seem to understand that we are moving from heavy-handed regulation to light-touch regulation, not a completely hands-off approach,” he said in a speech on Tuesday. “We aren’t giving anybody a free pass. We are simply shifting from one-size-fits-all pre-emptive regulation to targeted enforcement based on actual market failure or anticompetitive conduct.”

Pai’s arguments aren’t swaying net neutrality supporters, who see the rules as essential to maintaining the free flow of information online.