Broadband companies paid for millions of fake net neutrality comments
The industry sued to stop the rules during the Obama administration but lost.
By TALI ARBELAssociated Press
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The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality.
The Federal Communications Commission’s contentious 2017 repeal undid Obama-era rules that barred internet service providers from slowing or blocking websites and apps or charging companies more for faster speeds to consumers. The industry had sued to stop these rules during the Obama administration but lost.
TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer
The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality.
The Federal Communications Commission’s contentious 2017 repeal undid Obama-era rules that barred internet service providers from slowing or blocking websites and apps or charging companies more for faster speeds to consumers. The industry had sued to stop these rules during the Obama administration but lost.
The proceeding generated a record-breaking number of comments more than 22 million and nearly 18 million were fake, the attorney general’s office found. It has long been known that the tally included fake comments.
by Associated Press May 7, 2021 .
The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality.
The Federal Communications Commission’s contentious 2017 repeal undid Obama-era rules that barred internet service providers from slowing or blocking websites and apps or charging companies more for faster speeds to consumers. The industry had sued to stop these rules during the Obama administration but lost.
The proceeding generated a record-breaking number of comments more than 22 million and nearly 18 million were fake, the attorney general’s office found. It has long been known that the tally included fake comments.
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The Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has revealed in a new report that nearly 18 million of the more than 22 million comments the FCC received during its 2017 rulemaking were fake, intended to support the repeal of net neutrality, the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) should provide all online content equally and prevent them from favoring their own services or customers over their competitors.
A $4.2 million effort funded by Broadband for America, which includes major internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Charter, reportedly accounted for more than 8.5 million of the fake FCC comments. Millions more were submitted by a teenage college student in California.
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NY’s AG: Millions of fake comments – in favor and against – came from a secret broadband-funded campaign or from a 19-year-old’s fake identities.
Broadband providers and a 19-year-old college student were among those who successfully hijacked public comments during a crucial decision-making process in 2017 to overturn net neutrality by flooding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with fraudulent comments indicating their position on the move, according to a new report.
A secret campaign by the broadband industry to offer support to roll back net neutrality resulted in fake comments comprising more than 40 percent of those sent to the FCC during the public comments phase of its decision, according to the report by the New York State Office of the Attorney General.