Study: Pro-Net Neutrality Activists Filed 5.8 Million Fake Comments with the FCC

A new report from the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) reveals that pro-net neutrality activists filed more than 5.8 million fake comments through the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) comment system.

Pro-net neutrality forces continue to flood the FCC’s comment system, employing fake email generators and even using email addresses from Pornhub.com.

Breitbart News previously reported that over 1.3 million FCC comments came from Russia and other foreign countries.

The NLPC found that activists continue to use fake email domains and U.S. address generators programs found online. NLPC President Peter Flaherty discovered that the same comments were filed dozens or even hundreds of times using the same name.

The NLPC’s recent analysis found:

• All of the fake comments submitted between July 17 and August 4 came from one of ten email domains associated with a fake email generator program found at http://www.fakemailgenerator.com.
• The ten fake email domains used to submit the comments include armyspy.com, cuvox.de, dayrep.com, einrot.com, fleckens.hu, gustr.com, jourrapide.com, rhyta.com, superrito.com, and teleworm.us.
• All of the fake comments contain the exact language, “I am in favor of strong net neutrality under Title II of the Telecommunications Act. Sincerely.”
• A glance at 1.5 million of the comments filed between July 17 and August 4 revealed that every address filed through the FCC comment system was fake. NLPC takes this to believe that 95% of the comments during this timeframe to be using invalid addresses.

NLPC President Flaherty said, “As we have uncovered in our previous analyses, the gaming of the comment submission process has gotten out of hand. With almost 6 million comments in the docket now appearing to be fake, we have decided to make the data we uncovered publicly available in order for researchers and analysts to explore the data and develop their own insights.”

The NLPC called on Congress to investigate the proliferation of fake comments coming from both the pro and anti-net neutrality supporters. Flaherty charged, “Someone or some group is making a complete mockery of our public rulemaking process. Since Congress continues to turn a blind eye to the gaming of the rulemaking process, we’re putting the data online ourselves so Americans can see for themselves just how pervasive the fake comment problem has become.”

“Since July 17th, the number of comments in the docket exploded, but we believe almost 6 million comments are bogus. As we reported during the July 12 Day of Action, while pro-net neutrality supporters claimed that they had generated more than 2 million comments into the FCC’s docket, we also found a good number of comments, coming from fake email domains such as Pornhub.com, and foreign domains in Russia, France and Germany,” Flaherty concluded. “The deception has not ebbed, and in fact appears to be growing.”