On the eve of a historic vote on Thursday at the United States Federal Communications Commission, chairman Ajit Pai starred in an eccentric video that featured him dressed as Santa, wielding a lightsaber and clutching a fidget spinner to defend his contentious move to repeal Net neutrality and mock the criticism against it.

Published by conservative news site The Daily Caller and pushed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the video speaks to Mr Pai's belief that the Internet and the public's relationship to it will not be harmed after Net neutrality rules are dismantled. Laced with pop culture references and Internet iconography, the video saw Mr Pai listing the "seven things you can still do on the Internet after Net neutrality".

In the first scene, "You can still gram your food", Mr Pai took a selfie with a bowl topped with Cheetos and drenched in sriracha. Later, dressed in a Santa suit and holding a rotating fidget spinner, he demonstrated how people could still shop for their Christmas presents online. Another bit, titled "You can still stay part of your fave fandom", saw him wearing a fitted black hoodie and brandishing a blue lightsaber.