Net Neutrality Repealed Under Phony Propaganda Campaign

As expected, the FCC voted yesterday to repeal net neutrality.  Eliminating net neutrality will grant broadband providers unprecedented power over prices charged to consumers and control over what websites they will be able to access. Companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast will now be able to charge more, block certain websites, and censor content. These corporations now have the power to redefine, reshape, and modify the entire country’s internet experience.

From the very beginning, the FCC has been determined to repeal net neutrality, despite the overwhelming push back from the public.  According to the Washington Post, 83 percent of Americans support net neutrality and do not approve of the repeal. Additionally, three out of four Republicans oppose the government’s plan to repeal. This seems to be one of the few issues that most of Congress and most American citizens agree on.

Internet service providers spent over half a billion dollars lobbying the FCC. Ajit Pai, the chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission and former Verizon employee, seems to be their only ally.  Pai, who was appointed chairman of the commission by Donald Trump, was the poster child of the repeal.

Many have alleged that the overwhelming popular support for net neutrality led to the FCC's strategy of drumming up phony support for the repeal by using dead people’s social media accounts to spread propaganda and shill for the repeal. Numerous Twitter users posted about this, claiming some of their deceased relatives have “praised” the repeal via their social media accounts. A few Reddit threads about this issue have exploded, with the most popular one being upvoted nearly 70,000 times. American politician and the attorney general of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, started a website through which everyone can check if social media comments were falsely submitted on their behalf.