Aja Romano

If you heard that the Federal Communications Commission received a staggering 21.7 million comments during its open comment period on its forthcoming net neutrality ruling, you might assume this phenomenon represented democracy in action. But in reality, those 21.7 million comments represent a new challenge to democracy — specifically to the way we register what actually counts as an opinion. The FCC made clear that it would be dismissing most of the 21.7 million comments submitted to its website as part of the open comment period on its planned repeal of net neutrality laws.

At some point during the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations, the White House comments phone line, 202-456-1111, was shut down. If you call the line Jan 27, you’ll hear the following message directing you to comment via one of two alternate channels: "The comment line is currently closed, but your comment is important to the president, and we urge you to send us a message at whitehouse.gov/comment or send us a message through Facebook Messenger."

The shutdown of the phone line has sparked criticism that the move reflects the Trump administration’s “diminishing accountability.” But the phone line was actually closed during the final weeks of the Obama administration, and it seems possible that it’s a temporary victim of the Trump administration’s larger transition struggles: White House press assistant Giovanna Coia said that White House staff is “still learning how to work our computers.” What’s more notable at present is that the Facebook Messenger option callers are presented with after dialing the closed phone line doesn’t actually seem to exist.