A First Amendment group is comparing the Federal Communications Commission to Facebook after allegations that the agency censored comments it received from the public.
“On Tuesday, Protect Internet Freedom asked FCC staff about the status of comments the group had attempted to transmit via an automated script on its website,” said a spokesman for the agency. “FCC staff advised Protect Internet Freedom that the commission did not have record of receiving the majority of the comments in … the commission’s electronic comment and filing system.”
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The group suggested the action was intentional. “Facebook may not be the only one making headlines this week for potentially blocking online content that runs contrary to its views,” Protect Internet Freedom said in a statement. The statement added that the group’s supporters have submitted more than 2,200 comments that the FCC has been unable to locate.
This is very disturbing. But based on my experience working at FCC under the current leadership, I’m not surprised. https://t.co/AID1fiVDtk
— Matthew Berry (@matthewberryfcc) May 11, 2016
A report made public on Monday quoted a former Facebook employee who said other workers censored conservative news from its trending section.
The Protect Internet Freedom comments were in opposition to a proposed rule that would largely help companies in Silicon Valley. The FCC is considering whether to impose stricter privacy rules on Internet service providers, which would grant companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft exclusive purview to spy on their consumers.
Responding to the issue on Twitter, a chief of staff to one of the FCC’s five commissioners said the complaint about censorship was legitimate. “This is very disturbing. But based on my experience working at FCC under the current leadership, I’m not surprised,” said Matthew Berry, who heads Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai’s office.
Pai has repeatedly sparred with the agency’s Democratic majority over First Amendment issues, suggesting that Washington’s disrespect for free speech is rubbing off on companies in the private sector. “The text of the First Amendment is enshrined in our Constitution, but there are certain cultural values that undergird the amendment that are critical for its protections to have actual meaning,” Pai said in February. “If that culture starts to wither away, then so too will the freedom that it supports.”
