Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding Restoring Internet Freedom Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order

On Dec 4, 2017, several members of Congress wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing deep concern about the "proposal to roll back critical consumer protections by dismantling...current net neutrality rules." Due to reports that bots may have interfered with the proceeding and reports that "50,000 consumer complaints seem to have been excluded from the public record", the members of Congress requested that the FCC delay its planned vote on the item until it could conduct a thorough review of the state of the record and "provide Congress with greater assurance of its accuracy and completeness." 

On Jan 11, 2018, Chairman Pai responded, writing, "Despite any suggestion that the public comment process was somehow 'flawed' or 'tampered with' by the alleged submission of comments under false names, any such activity did not affect the Commission's actual decision making-that is, the agency's ability to review the record, respond to comments that raised significant issues, and make a reasoned judgment...In sum, in this proceeding, the Commission followed the well-established notice and comment process prescribed in the Administrative Procedure Act. That process resulted in an order consistent with both the Communications Act and the public interest."


Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding Restoring Internet Freedom Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order Members of Congress Letter to Pai Re: Restoring Internet Freedom