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Fake Comments: How U.S. Companies & Partisans Hack Democracy to Undermine Your Voice (NY AG Report)
governmentRelevant to AI governance as a case study in how public comment processes—used in AI policy rulemakings—can be systematically corrupted by well-funded actors, highlighting risks of fake input manipulation in democratic oversight mechanisms.
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Importance: 52/100organizational reportprimary source
Summary
The New York Attorney General's investigation found that nearly 18 million of 22 million public comments in the FCC's 2017 net neutrality proceeding were fraudulent, with broadband companies spending $8.2 million to generate fake grassroots opposition through astroturfing campaigns. The report exposes systematic manipulation of democratic comment processes by industry actors, lead generation firms, and individuals using automated software and stolen identities. It offers recommendations for protecting public comment integrity across federal and state regulatory proceedings.
Key Points
- •~18 million of 22 million FCC net neutrality comments were fake, including 9 million funded by broadband companies at a cost of $8.2 million
- •Industry groups concealed corporate funding to simulate grassroots opposition, a classic astroturfing tactic with implications for AI/tech policy proceedings
- •A single college student submitted 7.7 million fake pro-net-neutrality comments using fictitious identities and automated software
- •Lead generation companies corrupted 100+ other advocacy campaigns with 4.6 million fraudulent comments impersonating real people
- •The report demonstrates how public comment manipulation can distort regulatory outcomes, a risk relevant to AI governance and policy processes
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Fake Comments:
How U.S. Companies
& Partisans Hack Democracy
to Undermine Your Voice
New York State Office
of the Attorney General
Letitia James
This report was prepared by the Bureau of Internet and Technology and the Research and Analytics Department,
with special thanks to: Assistant Attorney General Noah Stein and Special Enforcement Counsel Jordan Adler,
with assistance from Assistant Attorneys General Ezra Sternstein and Hanna Baek, Internet Technology Analyst
Joe Graham, and Legal Assistants Richard Borgia and Shirly Huang, all of the Bureau of Internet and Technology,
under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Clark Russell and Bureau Chief Kim Berger; Data Scientist Kenneth
Morales in the Research and Analytics Department, under the supervision of Deputy Director Megan Thorsfeldt and
Director Jonathan Werberg; and Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo. The Office of the New York Attorney
General also acknowledges that other law enforcement agencies assisted with the investigation that helped make
this report possible.
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Contents
Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Background ....................................................................................................................................................................8
1. Net Neutrality – Purpose and History ...........................................................................................8
2. Public Comments – Purposes and Effects................................................................................... 9
3. Comments in the FCC Net Neutrality Proceeding...................................................................... 9
4. A Corruption of the Democratic Process...................................................................................10
The OAG’s Findings .....................................................................................................................................................11
1. The Country’s Biggest Broadband Companies Spent $8.2 Million to Oppose
Net Neutrality, Including Generating 9 Million Comments and Letters in Opposition ...........11
A. The Plan: Manufacture Grassroots Support ..............................................................................................11
B. Broadband Company Money Funded Three Astroturfing Efforts, and Each Resulted in Fraud .......... 12
C. The Broadband Industry Hid Its Involvement Behind Advocacy Groups to Create
the False Impression of Widespread Grassroots Opposition to Net Neutrality .................................... 23
D. The Broadband Industry Sent Over Half a Million Letters to Congress ................................................. 25
E. The Broadband Industry’s Campaign Organizers Ignored Red Flags
of Fraud and Impersonation .....................................................................
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