The Federal Communications Commission decided today to repeal rules that ensure net neutrality, the principle that internet traffic should all be treated the same.
The FCC’s vote was streamed live on YouTube. As you may know, YouTube livestreams have a little “live chat” box next to the video, where viewers can comment on the video. On popular videos, the live chat becomes a fast-moving river of internet zeitgeist.
Here are about two minutes of the chat on the FCC’s livestream, showing how a very active slice of the internet feels about repealing net neutrality.
The sentiment of the video is pretty clear: YouTube commenters don’t want the FCC to repeal net neutrality. Of course, as with any unfettered comment section, it is full of racial slurs and other unpleasant language. The single letter “F” is a recurring item, a reference to a meme that formed around the game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, where players attending a funeral were told to “Press F to pay respects.” Here are some other choice comments:
- “Right ear audio is not in your current subscription.”
- “Save net neutrality”
- “corruption is obvious”
- “fffffff”
At least the comments probably didn’t involve any identity theft.