The top prosecutors in 17 states and the District of Columbia are calling on the Federal Communications Commission chairman to put off a net neutrality vote pending a probe of fake public comments.
In a letter, the attorneys general asked Ajit Pai and the commissioners to "take immediate action" and "cooperate with law enforcement regulations."
"A careful review of the publicly available information revealed a pattern of fake submissions using the names of real people," the letter stated. "In fact, there may be over one million fake submissions from across the country. This is akin to identity theft on a massive scale – and theft of someone's voice in a democracy is particularly concerning."
The letter is signed by attorneys general from Virginia, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Washington, Vermont, and Oregon.
A separate letter from the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said as many as 2 million comments regarding net neutrality filed to the commission were falsified.