Vocativ

Conservative commenters have complained that pro-network neutrality groups, including internet startups, online civil liberties organizations, and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, have encouraged people to comment on the Federal Communications Commission’s site. But these advocates support leaving personalized comments, and there’s no evidence any of them have instructed supporters to file comments under anyone else’s name.

The FCC didn’t respond to repeated requests to specifically say whether it would filter out the astroturfed comments. Speaking to reporters after announcing a step toward rolling back existing net neutrality protections, FCC Chair Ajit Pai admitted “a tension between having an open process where it’s easy to comment and preventing questionable comments from being filed.” “Generally speaking, this agency has erred on the side of openness,” he said. Chairman Pai said the agency wouldn’t consider comments with obviously fake names, like Wonder Woman and Joseph Stalin, but declined to go further. Reached for comment after Pai’s statement, an FCC official declined to comment specifically on astroturfed comments.

The campaign contributions started small, with a handful of donations of a few thousand dollars each. In recent elections, however, it’s ballooned, with AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon each giving one of their favorite politicians in Congress between $15,000 and $20,000 every two years. All told, House Communications Subcommittee Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), author of a controversial resolution to let internet providers sell customers’ search histories to advertisers without notice or permission, has racked up well over half a million dollars in campaign donations from that industry over the course of her career. Privacy advocates are resoundingly against the resolution, designed to undo rules created by President Obama’s Federal Communications Commission in the waning days of his administration. The rules mandated internet providers like Comcast and Verizon get customers’ permission before offering sensitive search histories, like financial and health information, to marketers.

Over 40 “rogue” Twitter accounts sprang up recently after the Trump Administration reportedly imposed gag orders on several federal agencies. The users behind some of these accounts, such as AltYellowstoneNatPark and AltEPA, claim to be employees of the agencies and sites they are representing, while others acknowledged that they were not associated with the entities they have decided to represent. The accounts quickly became a viral sensation, sending out sassy messages of dissent, underscoring the truth about climate change, sharing support for the people of Standing Rock in the face of the now imminent Dakota Access Pipeline, and promoting the planned Scientists’ March On Washington. But already, some of those manning the rogue accounts announced that they are relinquishing control to “non-federal workers” for fear of losing their jobs. In an apparent effort to ensure they are not in violation of Twitter’s impersonation policy, many of these account holders have been adding language like “not official” and “not affiliated” to their bios.

Under President Donald Trump, the public may finally get a firsthand look at what network neutrality means in practice — because if the Trump Administration is able to successfully abolish it, the internet is going to get a lot more expensive and harder to use. So what would the internet look like without net neutrality?

Internet providers would likely start using it for a business advantage, said Gigi Sohn, a recently-retired FCC senior official who advised former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler on net neutrality rules. To start, internet providers not burdened by net neutrality could begin by offering deals and exclusives for their content. Streaming video sites could balkanize even further: Hulu might cut an exclusive deal with Comcast while Netflix inked one with Verizon, meaning no one could get access to both. And if you’re one of those unlucky Americans whose neighborhood is only served by a single provider? Hope you like whichever service it struck a deal with, because that’s all you’ll be able to legally get.