$8.5M Spent by Big Telecom, Big Cable, and Broadband Trade Groups for Fake FCC Comments On Net Neutrality

By B.N. Frank

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been catering to the telecom and cable industries for decades (see 1, 2). Injustices have been revealed by many sources including telecom expert, Bruce Kushnick. Bruce is member of a group of telecom experts who call themselves, “The Irregulators”. He has written several articles about why Big Telecom and Big Cable should be broken up (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). An investigation by the New York Attorney General exposes more unethical behavior during the Trump administration.

From Ars Technica:

Biggest ISPs paid for 8.5 million fake FCC comments opposing net neutrality

ISP-funded astroturfing used millions of real names and faked consent records.

The largest Internet providers in the US funded a campaign that generated “8.5 million fake comments” to the Federal Communications Commission as part of the ISPs’ fight against net neutrality rules during the Trump administration, according to a report issued today by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

Nearly 18 million out of 22 million comments were fabricated, including both pro- and anti-net neutrality submissions, the report said. One 19-year-old submitted 7.7 million pro-net neutrality comments under fake, randomly generated names. But the astroturfing effort funded by the broadband industry stood out because it used real people’s names without their consent, with third-party firms hired by the industry faking consent records, the report said.

The NY AG’s office began its investigation in 2017 and said it faced stonewalling from then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who refused requests for evidence. But after a years-long process of obtaining and analyzing “tens of thousands of internal emails, planning documents, bank records, invoices, and data comprising hundreds of millions of records,” the NY AG said it “found that millions of fake comments were submitted through a secret campaign, funded by the country’s largest broadband companies, to manufacture support for the repeal of existing net neutrality rules using lead generators.”

It was clear before Pai completed the repeal in December 2017 that millions of people—including dead people—were impersonated in net neutrality comments. Even industry-funded research found that 98.5 percent of genuine comments opposed Pai’s deregulatory plan. But today’s report reveals more details about how many comments were fake and how the broadband industry was involved.

Read full article