MIAMI—Dec. 11, 2014—Who should control the Internet? A new report released today by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation explores media coverage, public opinion and advocacy surrounding the Federal Communications Commission call for public comment on regulation of the Internet. Prepared by data analysis firm Quid, the report helps policymakers and citizens better understand the net neutrality debate—encouraging more informed regulations and greater public engagement.

The report analyzes data from media reports, Twitter, lobbying disclosures and 1.1 million public comments made to the FCC about Internet regulation between Jan. 1 and July 18, 2014; the FCC has received more than 3 million comments to date. Through detailed analysis and data visualizations it unveils the main narratives and influencers shaping the debate, highlighting several key takeaways:

• Public opinion expressed on Twitter and in FCC comments, was overwhelmingly pro net neutrality. Taken with the entire body of comments sampled, there weren’t enough unique or organic anti-net-neutrality comments to register on the map.
• Despite the complexity of the issue public engagement is high with 40 percent of the 1.1 million comments analyzed coming from unique responses, as opposed to form letters or templates prepared by advocacy groups; this is higher then the typical 10 to 20 percent seen with other regulations. 
• Large Internet service providers, such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T, have generally avoided the public debate and mainly spent money on lobbying efforts, collectively reporting over $238 million on filings mentioning net neutrality.
• The net neutrality debate was covered mainly as a technology story or a political story, with 57 percent of coverage falling into those categories. There was little coverage by local (2 percent) and financial (6 percent) news sources.
• Male and urban voices were overrepresented in the debate with 69 percent from men and 63 percent from metro areas.

“Compared with issues like health care and immigration, people rarely consider how the government regulates the Internet and generally take the status quo of an open Internet for granted,” said Jon Sotsky, Knight Foundation director for strategy and assessment. “But since the government declared earlier in the year that it was considering changes to Internet regulations, we’ve seen an incredible amount of public engagement in favor of maintaining a fair and open Internet. We hope policymakers and others influencing the future of net neutrality will consider the report’s findings, which reveal overwhelming public support for an Internet that continues to advance access to information and economic competitiveness.”

“Net neutrality is a critical issue, and the stakes are high as lawmakers grapple with how to regulate the Internet,” said Neville Crawley, CEO of Quid. “Working closely with Knight Foundation, Quid analyzed millions of data points – from FCC comments, Tweets and media coverage to lobbying disclosures – to provide a fascinating look at the prevailing narratives and influencers shaping the net neutrality debate. This kind of analysis is valuable in understanding the critical issues – and will ultimately help policymakers develop more effective regulation.”

An initial report examining public opinion on net neutrality was released in August; the new report expands the sample and adds media, social media and lobbying information.

To download the report visit http://www.knightfoundation.org/netneutralityreport. 

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more information, please visit KnightFoundation.org.

About Quid

Quid is radically changing how people interact with information. The Quid Intelligence Platform combines search, premium data and high-performance algorithms to create visualizations of markets, trends, and cultural phenomena. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.quid.com.

CONTACT:

Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677, [email protected]

Kaitlin Haar for Quid, [email protected], 408-515-1158