Real Collusion Courtesy of Your Federal Bureaucracy

Net neutrality is a complicated subject, but here’s something that’s not at all complicated: special treatment. According to information obtained with Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by the organization Media Freedom, it is clear that the Federal Communications Commission is not being neutral about how it treats activists on this subject.

FCC staff is cozying up to corporate lobbyists and activists in favor of net neutrality in spite of their abysmal behavior. Pro-net neutrality folks have in the past ignored clear instructions by the FCC and in the process crashed the agency’s comment system. They have also worked in the past to gin up a huge Internet slowdown and are threatening another, corporate-sponsored “day of action.”

Ignoring all of this, the FCC went out of its way to work with pro-net neutrality folks, lending the exclusive and collaborative support of both its IT and press departments. FCC workers helped to get in pro-net neutrality comments when the system was down and helped get the pro side of the story out to the media.

When the bytes settled the pro-net neutrality folks still lost badly. Those comments in favor of scrapping net neutrality came in at more than 900,000, which was at least 100,000 more comments than the pro side managed even with the playing field tilted in their direction.

The Trump administration ought to take note not just of the end results of the comments but also at how unfairly one of the government’s own agencies behaved toward one side in one of the most important issues that will shape our digital future for decades to come.

President Trump, who has shown good faith by nominating Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel for another term on the FCC, ought to take note not just of the end results of the comments but also at how unfairly one of the government’s own agencies behaved toward one side in one of the most important issues that will shape our digital future for decades to come

Some swamp draining may be in order here. The federal Bureaucracy should not collude with one side over another in a public policy debate.

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