What We’re Seeking:

• Records relating to the FCC’s management of the online comment system used to solicit input from the public regarding net neutrality.

Background:

Net Neutrality protections officially ended on June 11, 2018, but American Oversight is going to continue to investigate and request documents from the FCC about this decision. Even though Chairman Pai promised an open and transparent rulemaking process, news reports and documents we uncovered revealed that Pai and other FCC officials worked closely with telecom trade associations and large internet companies to develop the Commission’s policies for the future of internet access.

Pai has declined to publicly discuss the details of those meetings, so American Oversight sought to gain insight via the Freedom of Information Act. Our investigation obtained Chairman Pai and other senior officials’ calendar entries of meetings concerning Net Neutrality. Pai’s calendars showed a number of previously unreported meetings with the telecommunications industry and corporations that benefited from the dismantling of Net Neutrality, including Cisco, AT&T, and Oracle.

American Oversight also uncovered emails showing the FCC pushing a phony story about a “cyber attack” on the online comment system the FCC used to solicit comments about Net Neutrality. Several United States Senators have demanded that Chairman Pai explain what really happened with the Net Neutrality comments solicitation process, and we’re still asking the FCC to provide additional details in response to our FOIA request.

The public has a right to know the full story about the FCC’s repeal of Net Neutrality protections. The documents we’ve uncovered so far are posted below, and we’ll continue to update this investigation as we learn more.