FCC Website Reports Technical Difficulties After John Oliver's Segment On Net Neutrality

A 13-minute Last Week Tonight With John Oliver segment encouraged viewers to comment on the FCC's proposed net neutrality rules. "Good evening, monsters. "

By
Ali Vingiano
by Ali Vingiano

BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Staff

The FCC's website, which is accepting public input on proposed net neutrality rules, has been experiencing "technical difficulties" since a Last Week Tonight With John Oliver segment aired on Sunday.

HBO / Via youtube.com

At the end of a 13-minute segment on net neutrality, Oliver encouraged internet trolls to take to the FCC website and focus their "rage" on the proposed rules.

"Ending net neutrality would allow big companies to buy their way into the fast lane, leaving everyone else in the slow lane," Oliver warned in the segment.

"I would like to address the internet commenters out there directly... This might be the moment you've spent your whole life training for," said Oliver, encouraging trolls to "focus your indiscriminate rage in a useful direction."

HBO / Via youtube.com

"You have been out there ferociously commenting on dance videos of adorable three year olds saying things like 'any loser could dance like this after an hour of practice' ... But this is the moment you were made for commenters ... For once in your life we need you to channel that anger."

On Monday afternoon, as a video of the segment went viral, the FCC tweeted that they were experiencing technical difficulties "due to heavy traffic."

The FCC @FCC

We’ve been experiencing technical difficulties with our comment system due to heavy traffic. We’re working to resolve these issues quickly.

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The FCC @FCC

We’re still experiencing technical difficulties with our comment system. Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve the issues.

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"As of now we are happy the show is attracting a lot of passionate viewers," HBO representative Rosa Oh told BuzzFeed in an email.

View this video on YouTube

The segment has been watched over 700,000 times on YouTube, and according to Nielsen ratings, HBO's newest talk show was seen by 1 million people on Sunday night.

This post has been updated to include a statement from HBO.

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