ICYMI: Senator Hassan Leads Letter Calling on FCC Chairman Pai to Delay Vote Rolling Back Net Neutrality Rules
WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan led a group of 27 other colleagues in calling on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to delay the planned December 14th vote to roll back net neutrality rules after reports that bots filed hundreds of thousands of comments to the FCC during the net neutrality policymaking process.
See below for highlights of the coverage:
AP: Senators, prosecutor cite fake comments on internet rules
By Mary Esch
Twenty-seven U.S. senators and New York’s attorney general asked federal regulators Monday to delay a vote on scrapping open internet rules amid concerns the public comment docket is filled with fake comments.
Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said an unprecedented 23 million comments were submitted to the Federal Communications Commission about net neutrality. His office suspects as many as a million of those are linked to stolen identities.
The senators, led by Democrat Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, wrote to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concern over reports that bots filed hundreds of thousands of comments.
The FCC is set to vote Dec. 14 whether to scrap Obama-era rules around open internet access that prevent phone and cable companies from favoring certain websites and apps.
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CNET: Senators to FCC: Investigate phony net neutrality comments
By Laura Hautala
The Federal Communications Commission shouldn't vote on whether to end net neutrality just yet, a group of 28 senators said in a letter sent Monday. It needs to first investigate claims that hundreds of thousands -- and perhaps millions -- of public comments on the controversial policy change appear to have been made by bots posing as regular people, they wrote.
"Without additional information about the alleged anomalies surrounding the public record, the FCC cannot conduct a thorough and fair evaluation of the public's views on this topic," the senators, lead by New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan, wrote.
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Engadget: Senators ask the FCC to delay its net neutrality vote (updated)
By Mallory Locklear
A group of senators has sent a letter to the FCC asking the commission to delay its December 14th vote on proposed net neutrality protection rollbacks, The Hill reports. Led by Senator Maggie Hassan, 28 senators signed the letter, which pointed to evidence that the proposal's public comments were rife with fraudulent posts. "A free and open internet is vital to ensuring a level playing field online, and we believe that your proposed action may be based on an incomplete understanding of the public record in this proceeding," they wrote. "In fact, there is good reason to believe that the record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed."
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The Hill: Group of senators calls on FCC to delay net neutrality vote
By Harper Neidig
Twenty-eight senators are calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to delay its vote on repealing its net neutrality rules next week, citing concerns over the possibility that the agency’s public comment file may be filled with fake comments.
The group, led by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), wants the FCC to conduct an investigation into whether the net neutrality docket’s public comment record was tampered with.
“A free and open Internet is vital to ensuring a level playing field online, and we believe that your proposed action may be based on an incomplete understanding of the public record in this proceeding,” the senators wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “In fact, there is good reason to believe that the record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed.”
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The Verge: FCC commissioner, 28 senators, and New York’s attorney general call to delay net neutrality vote
By Adi Robertson
New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, and 28 senators want the FCC to delay its upcoming net neutrality vote, giving investigators more time to look into a spate of fake public comments submitted under real peoples’ names. They also called on the FCC to seriously investigate the source of the comments, and to cooperate with state- or federal-level probes.
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… A group of senators, led by Maggie Hassan (D-NH), said the same thing in a letter sent to FCC chairman Ajit Pai. “We are requesting that you delay your planned vote on this item until you can conduct a thorough review of the state of the record and provide Congress with greater assurance of its accuracy and completeness,” they wrote.
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