After the repeal of net neutrality on December 14, 2017, by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), they released an initiative titled, “Restoring Internet Freedom,” which states:
On December 14, the Federal Communications Commission voted to restore the longstanding, bipartisan light-touch regulatory framework that has fostered rapid Internet growth, openness, and freedom for nearly 20 years.
Following detailed legal and economic analysis, as well as extensive examination of comments from consumers and stakeholders, the Commission reversed the FCC’s 2015 heavy-handed utility-style regulation of broadband Internet access service, which imposed substantial costs on the entire Internet ecosystem. Read Full Statement
From April 27 – August 30, 2017, members of the public were allowed to formally submit comments on the subject of net neutrality. As seen in the second paragraph of the “Restoring Internet Freedom” initiative, the FCC states they conducted an “extensive examination of comments from consumers and stakeholders.” Thus, the FCC took general public opinion into account when voting. Or did they?
Before the Repeal: Were the General Opinions issued to the FCC Fake?
The Pew Research Center set out to analyze the opinions issued publically on the FCC website. What they found was what appeared to be organized campaigns, both pro and con, that posted millions of repeated messages with false or misleading personal information.
From the analysis, the Pew Research Center found:
• Many submissions seemed to include false or misleading personal information:
57% of the comments utilized either duplicate or temporary email addresses. Many individual names being used appeared thousands of times in submissions.• There is clear evidence of organized campaigns to flood the comments with repeated messages:
Of the 21.7 million comments, only 6% were unique posts. 94% of the posts were submitted multiple times, in some cases hundreds or thousands of times.• Thousands of comments were submitted at the exact same time:
On nine separate occasions, more than 75,000 comments were posted simultaneously.Collecting large-scale data from the public can be challenging. The FCC, in theory, should have used a validation technique to ensure that the email addresses submitted with each post came from a legitimate account. However, the Center’s analysis shows that over the four month comment period, the FCC only used a verification process on 3% of all comments. As a result, many commenters were able to use generic or bogus email addresses. The Center found that This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. appeared in 7,513 comments, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. was used in 1,002 comments, and 9,190 emails supplied did not contain the “@” to make it a valid email. The Center’s analysis also found that more than 8 million submissions included email addresses for temporary email accounts. When combined, 57% of posts either used a temporary email or an email that was also included in more than one comment. Of the 21.7 million comments, only 6% were unique. In the remaining 94%, 6 of the 7 most common submitted comments argued against net neutrality.
On May 7, 2017, during the 4 month comment window, comedian John Oliver defended net neutrality on his HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In 2014, the last time the FCC considered net neutrality, John Oliver’s program produced a spike in submitted comments. It is interesting to note, that on the same day John Oliver’s show aired, a supposed DDoS attack against the FCC’s electronic filing system occurred. Some critics question if an attack ever occurred, as the FCC would not provide evidence following a Freedom of Information Act request after the incident.
The attack, along with Oliver’s show, prompted the FCC to issue a “sunshine period” for May 12-18. During this period the FCC would stop taking public comments. The Center found that during this window, over 93,000 submissions were made and were included in the final database of public posts. To view full report visit, Pew Research Center.
After the Repeal: Coalition of Attorney Generals Sue FCC
After disregarding what seems to be fraudulent campaigns to undermine net neutrality, the FCC, in a vote of 3 to 2, repealed net neutrality. It only took one month for the lawsuits to start coming in. On January 16, 2018, backed by a coalition of attorney generals, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman made the first step toward suing the FCC over the rollback of net neutrality by filing a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Joining Schneiderman in this multistate lawsuit are 20 other states ― California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington ― and the District of Columbia.
Washington State Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, in an announcement stated, “[t]he petition is the first step by states to attempt to block the FCC’s decision, and it will allow the attorneys general to move forward with the appeal in the future.” Ferguson went on to say, “[a]llowing powerful special interests to act as the internet’s gatekeepers harm consumers, innovation, and small businesses. We believe the FCC acted unlawfully when it gutted net neutrality, and I look forward to holding the FCC accountable to the rule of law.”
Along with deregulating the broadband industry and removing net neutrality rules, the FCC ruled to prevent states from being able to issue their own similar rules. In an attempt to protect the citizens of their state, lawmakers from six states have introduced bills that would forbid internet providers from blocking or slowing down sites or online services.
Also joining the fight for net neutrality, internet giants Facebook, Amazon, and Google are pushing a congressional bid to reverse the repeal. As the general public, government officials, and the largest tech companies in the world ban together to bring back net neutrality, it is sure to be an interesting year for the Internet.
Articles You Might Find Interesting:
Net Neutrality and The Cloud
What could the Lack of Net Neutrality Mean for You?-Video
Update Your Cyber Security Measures in 2018
A Closer Look at the New CMS Texting Guidelines for Healthcare
Share this article: