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Article
Fraudulent Malattributed Comments in Agency Rulemaking
Cardozo Law Review
  • Michael Herz, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Publication Date
11-1-2020
Abstract

A specter is haunting notice-and-comment rulemaking—the specter of fraudulent comments. The stand-out example—the apotheosis—was the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rulemaking in 2017. Well over twenty million comments were submitted, but millions of those were highly suspect. It turns out only about 800,000 of those comments were unique—that is, not written by a computer and not a pre-written form letter or variation thereof. And of the rest, perhaps half were submitted by computers (bots) using fictitious names or the names of real people, living and dead, who had no connection to the comment.

Publisher
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Keywords
  • fraudulent comments,
  • rulemaking,
  • notice-and-comment,
  • net neutrality,
  • false statements,
  • mass comments,
  • democracy
Citation Information
Michael Herz. "Fraudulent Malattributed Comments in Agency Rulemaking" Cardozo Law Review Vol. 42 (2020) p. 1
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael-herz/123/