FCC chair Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality proposal has already drawn a bigger public response than any single issue in the agency’s history, passing even the 2004 Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction” with almost 1.5 million comments. Getting to that number took slightly under four months, but it’s taken less than a week to double it. The FCC press secretary announced that over 3 million comments have come in regarding the Open Internet framework. There’s still a chance for that number to go up: comments will be accepted until the end of today (September 15th.) If you want to send a comment, you can email [email protected] or file through this form.
The FCC has gotten 3 million net neutrality comments, and today’s the last day to file
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
We have passed the 3 million mark for #OpenInternet comments received. We are still receiving & processing comments. More updates to come.
— Kim Hart (@khart) September 15, 2014 A significant number of the new filings came during the Battle for the Net, a day of activism focused on getting the FCC to reclassify broadband service providers under stricter “common carrier” rules. Organizers said over 700,000 comments were filed over the course of the day, in addition to calls and emails to Congress, urging it to back the FCC’s decision. While we don’t know the makeup of these new numbers, the Sunlight Foundation analyzed 800,000 earlier comments and found that around two-thirds of them asked the FCC to reclassify broadband, while about 5 percent opposed tighter regulations. After comments close, the FCC will use them to decide on a final proposal, which Wheeler hopes to pass by the end of 2014.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
