Poll with leading introductions results in "facts" that support pollsters' opinions SHOCKER!
Information prior to question: One1 principal concern raised by some people is that ONLY the five members of an unelected2 Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, will decide the future of the Internet3 without providing an opportunity for the public to see and understand the regulations prior to a vote. Opponents of the Internet regulation plan to seek public disclosure of the exact rules and specific regulations prior to the FCC's official vote. These groups say that, given the importance of the Internet in the daily lives of Americans, the FCC should provide greater information about the proposal to regulate the Internet to better understand its costs and benefits.
1. Providing only one side of the debate to people already determined to be unfamiliar with the issue biases responses in favor of that one side.
2. Loaded term "unelected" creates impression of political overreach.
3. Stressing (to the point of exaggeration) the importance of the proposed regulations increases the odds of an emotionally-influenced response.
Information prior to question: Over the past 22 years, the Internet has developed and grown into what we have today, with little government oversight, and has resulted in major private investment by the nation's wired and wireless providers in modern, high-speed broadband networks.4 President Obama5 is now proposing that the federal government regulate and oversee the Internet similar to how it oversees the electric or gas public utility industry. Specifically, President Obama proposes allowing the FCC, for the first time, to regulate the Internet with the same authority it has used in the past to regulate monopoly telephone service.
4. Rose-tinting the past without ever discussing ISPs plans to restrict/tier access.
5. Tying it to Obama to guarantee a strong Republican response.
And what is the opinion of the pollsters?
“These findings suggest that the FCC’s bid to impose outdated telephone regulations on the Internet is driven more by professional activists than by the public, which seems instinctively to resist the idea,” said Will Marshall, PPI President. “That’s why Congress should take a closer look at what the FCC is up to and make sure these issues get a thorough public airing.”
Wow. They're not even trying to hide their bias at all. Are we so cynical, or so lazy, that we're willing to allow these people to pass off a clearly manipulated piece of bullshit as a set of legitimate data?
Even setting that aside, you could have stopped with:
74 per cent of Americans are unfamiliar with the term "net neutrality" or what it refers to
Given that, what's the point of asking people who don't understand the issue to begin with more detailed questions about how to deal with it?
(all quotes taken from the PPI press release about their poll, linked in the article.)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
