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WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to begin a rulemaking process in order to jettison Title II protections and once again place broadband-access providers under Title I of the Communications Act — a move that would undermine the sound and successful basis for the FCC’s landmark 2015 Open Internet Order.

Last week, while pundits were debating whether crashing web servers at the Federal Communications Commission were hit by hackers or simply by a flood of public comments, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was on her way to a forum in Los Angeles. There she heard from advocate Sylvia Hernandez and others who are often left out of the Beltway’s tech-policy narratives.

A new report from consumer group Free Press pours cold water on the idea that Net Neutrality killed broadband-industry investment.

Widespread support for strong Net neutrality rules continues. But Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has made a point of trumpeting anti-Net Neutrality sentiment.

A Free Press report disputes the investment numbers cited by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, saying that its own analysis shows an increase in network investment spending since the 2015 Title II Net Neutrality order.

Internet service providers have not slowed investment into infrastructure and networks since the passage of Net Neutrality rules despite industry’s claims to the contrary, a Free Press study found.

Though the Commission’s lone Democrat is unlikely to change the minds of her anti-regulation colleagues, she’s not ready to admit defeat just yet.

The deal between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media would give the conservative-leaning company control of local news coverage in 70 percent of American households.

“In just a matter of days, the FCC’s majority will tee up an item aimed at dismantling the open-internet protections that so many Americans fought for and won back in 2015,” the Democratic Commission said in a speech delivered at a broadband forum in Los Angeles.

In the two-year period following the new net neutrality rules, overall investment among those companies was up 5 percent, according to Free Press.