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

Timeline Eventconfirmed
regulatory-capturetelecommunicationscorporate-manipulationdigital-democracytechnology-policy
Regulatory CaptureDigital & Tech CaptureCorporate Capture
Actors:Ajit Pai, Federal Communications Commission, New York Attorney General's Office
2017-05-15 · 1 min read

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

  1. NPR: Millions of Fake Comments Found in Net Neutrality VoteNPR(2017-12-14)
  2. New York AG: Report on Fake Comments CampaignAg(2021-05-11)
  3. NY AG Secures Settlement from Companies Supplying Fake CommentsInsurancejournal(2023-05-11)
  4. FCC Net Neutrality Process Corruption ReportCircleid(2017-11-24)