Russians are hacking our public-commenting system, too

[Commentary] In the course of its deliberations on the future of Internet openness, the Federal Communications Commission logged about half a million comments sent from Russian e-mail addresses. It received nearly 8 million comments from e-mail domains associated with FakeMailGenerator.com with almost identical wording. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated case. Researchers, journalists, and public servants have found a wide range of fake comments and stolen identities in the public proceedings of the Labor Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission. In proceedings at the FCC and elsewhere, it is apparent that the public is increasingly shut out of decision-making by the fraud that is flooding public channels for comment.

We need a lot more investigating, including from the Justice Department and the FBI. The sheer volume of fraud suggests a systemic effort to corrupt the process by which the public participates in some of the biggest decisions made in Washington. That deserves attention — and a fix. If we do this right, we can do more than rid our public records of comments from dead people and Russia, stolen identities and bots. We can find a way to give all Americans — no matter who they are or where they live — a fighting chance at making Washington listen to what they think.

[Jessica Rosenworcel is a member of the Federal Communications Commission]