New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says tens of thousands of fake comments were posted to the FCC’s website earlier this year on its plan to roll back net neutrality rules, which guarantee equal access to online content by internet providers.
Schneiderman says the fake comments were all in favor of repealing the rule.
“Impersonation, forgery, other misuses of a person’s identity are a violation to New York law. This is akin to identity theft on a massive scale.”
Schneiderman says tens of thousands of people across the country may have had their names attached to the fake submissions.
His office has set up a webpage where people can search the FCC comment database and report fake submissions.
The page “allows anyone that thinks their identity may have been stolen to check the complete file of FCC comments and see if a fake submission was made in their name. In less than a week, we’ve received over 3,000 responses from across the country.”
Schneiderman, along with 27 U.S. senators, have called on the FCC to delay its December 14 vote on net neutrality due to the fake comments.
The FCC says it’s cooperating with Schneiderman's investigation.