FCC Begins Investigation into Massive Fake Comments Campaign on Net Neutrality Repeal

confirmed Importance 9/10 ~1 min read 4 sources 3 actors

Regulatory Capture Digital & Tech Capture Corporate Capture

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an investigation into the unprecedented manipulation of its public comment system during the net neutrality repeal process. An estimated 18 million out of 22 million comments were found to be fake, generated through coordinated campaigns by broadband industry lead generators who fabricated consumer responses and impersonated real people.

Sources & Citations

[1] NPR: Millions of Fake Comments Found in Net Neutrality Vote · Dec 14, 2017 Tier 1

[2] New York AG: Report on Fake Comments Campaign · May 11, 2021 Tier 1

[3] NY AG Secures Settlement from Companies Supplying Fake Comments · May 11, 2023 Tier 2

[4] FCC Net Neutrality Process Corruption Report · Nov 24, 2017 Tier 2

Tiers Tier 1 court records & gov docs · Tier 2 established outlets · Tier 3 regional & specialty press · Tier 4 opinion or single-source. Methodology →

Cite this entry

The Cascade Ledger. “FCC Begins Investigation into Massive Fake Comments Campaign on Net Neutrality Repeal.” The Capture Cascade Timeline, May 15, 2017. https://capturecascade.org/event/2017-05-15--fcc-launches-fake-comments-investigation-net-neutrality/