FCC Ignores Senate Calls To Delay Net Neutrality Vote, Protestors Plan To Picket ISP

Net Neutrality is one of the most contentious issues in the U.S. right now and it’s only getting more intense as the December 14th vote to dismantle it creeps closer. The Federal Communications Commission just ignored calls by senators to delay the vote, for example, essentially saying that it was a plot against dismantling Net Neutrality. Protestors who want to keep the internet free are planning on showing up en masse in front of Verizon stores.

The call to delay the FCC vote was made by 28 sitting U.S. senators and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, USA Today reports. On Monday, Schneiderman held a press conference where he noted how corrupt the process of dismantling Net Neutrality has become.

“Federal law guarantees every American a voice in this process," Schneiderman told reporters. “An investigation by my office has revealed that this process has been deeply corrupted.”

In response to the accusations, FCC spokeswoman Tina Pelkey said in an email that the commission has no intentions of delaying the vote. She also accused Schneiderman of simply stalling for time.

“At today’s news conference, they didn’t identify a single comment relied upon in the draft order as being questionable. This is an attempt by people who want to keep the Obama Administration’s heavy-handed Internet regulations to delay the vote because they realize that their effort to defeat the plan to restore Internet freedom has stalled,” the email reads.

The call to delay the vote was also fueled by fake comments that have been flooding the FCC’s website. Of the 23 million posts on the website, many were left by fake or stolen accounts. As such, the senators wanted to have the matter investigated before the vote was made.

While politicians battle on the federal level, Net Neutrality supporters will be on the front lines, protesting Verizon to express their anger at ISPs. The reason why the protestors chose the carrier was apparently that of its association with current FCC chair Ajit Pai who was their associate general counsel, the Huffington Post reports.

Multiple protest events have already appeared throughout the country and more are expected to pop up as December 14th comes closer.