Statement of Commissioner Rosenworcel on Lack of Integrity in FCC Process

While I fundamentally disagree with the merits of the Federal Communications Commission’s [net neutrality] proposal, what is equally concerning is the lack of integrity to the FCC’s process that has led to this point.

To review, the FCC has held zero public hearings. The FCC has knowingly maintained a system that has already been corrupted and is susceptible to abuse. This has led to the following problems:

• Approximately a million comments may have fraudulently used the names of real people, including thousands that the New York Attorney General is now investigating
• An alleged distributed denial of service attack that the Government Accountability Office is now investigating
• Nearly half a million comments were filed from Russian e-mail addresses
• 50,000 consumer complaints missing from the record

Distressingly, the FCC has been unwilling to assist a law enforcement investigation into some of these problems. That’s unacceptable. The FCC needs to correct this course immediately. The integrity of our process is at stake. The future of the Internet is at stake. Until we get to the bottom of this, no vote should take place until a responsible investigation—like that in New York—is complete.