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John Oliver wants the internet's worst trolls to yell at the FCC

John Oliver wants the internet's worst trolls to yell at the FCC

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John Oliver is asking the internet's worst trolls to take the "badly spelled vile" they normally pump into YouTube comments and send it the FCC's way — all in the name of net neutrality. During the most recent episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver joined the huge chorus of critics who remain in staunch opposition to the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. He hammered on all the usual concerns, chiding the cable companies for their monopolistic behavior and attempts to influence lawmakers through extensive lobbying.

But after lampooning Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon, Oliver shifted his focus to commenters. In a public plea, he asked them to channel their anger for the greater good by taking advantage of the FCC's open comment period. "This is the moment you were made for," Oliver said. "We need you to get out there and for once in your lives focus your indiscriminate rage in a useful direction. Seize your moment, my lovely trolls. Turn on caps lock and fly, my pretties." Apparently RonPaulFan2016 and OneDirection4Eva answered the call; the FCC's public comment website was brought down for several hours on Monday thanks to "heavy traffic." You can watch Oliver's entire net neutrality segment above.

Update: The article has been updated to include details about technical troubles experienced by the FCC in the wake of Oliver's request. Heavy traffic flooded the online comment system and took it offline for several hours on Monday.