Open internet revival pulled coordinated supporters
The Federal Communications Commission received 1,212 nearly identical comments in late 2023 backing the agency's move to restore net neutrality protections. The campaign urged the FCC to classify broadband as a common-carrier service so providers cannot block or throttle lawful traffic.
Campaign window
64 days · 1,212 comments detected
Shape of the campaign
Each red dot is one comment that matched the campaign's template text. Grey dots are unrelated submissions to the same docket. The clustering algorithm groups comments by semantic similarity, not by exact string match, so light wording changes don't hide the pattern.
How this stacks against other campaigns in tech regulation
- Non-compete ban backed by worker-rights template2,318
- Open internet revival pulled coordinated supporters1,212
- FCC repeal of net neutrality drew form-letter floods484
Scale
The template
“I support the FCC's proposal to restore net neutrality protections by reclassifying broadband as a Title II telecommunications service. The 2017 repeal stripped away basic consumer protections and gave broadband providers free rein to throttle, block, or favor traffic for commercial reasons. Without enforceable rules, ISPs have a built-in incentive to charge content providers tolls and slow lawful traffic. Please adopt strong, bright-line rules.”
Attribution
Who organized this?
Free Press and Fight for the Future ran coordinated public campaigns with template comments encouraging supporters to back the FCC's 2023 proposal to reinstate Title II net neutrality protections.
Attribution is based on publicly available evidence. It does not imply wrongdoing.
Migration analysis
Did the campaign's language make it into the final rule?
The April 2024 Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet order picked up the campaign's framing of broadband as a Title II telecommunications service, with explicit bright-line rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Note the order was later stayed by the Sixth Circuit and vacated.
Phrase overlap
Campaign template
“ISPs have a built-in incentive to charge content providers tolls and slow lawful traffic”
Final rule text
we reinstate bright-line rules prohibiting blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization of lawful internet traffic
FCC 24-52, ¶ 1
Phrase overlap is correlation, not causation. Many advocates and agency staff use the same vocabulary; matching language is not evidence the campaign drafted the rule.
Rule outcome
Did it influence the final rule?
The FCC voted 3-2 in April 2024 to restore net neutrality rules under Title II. However, the Sixth Circuit stayed the order in August 2024, and the FCC subsequently vacated it in February 2025.
Rule outcomes are matters of public record. Astroturf does not claim the campaign caused or prevented the outcome.
> Technical details
curated-23-320-13d2d1208e4781e3Docket ID23-320Finding slugopen-internet-revival-pulled-coordinated-supporters-666f55GeneratedManual (edited)