Net neutrality was once a largely academic dispute with a wonky name.

Plenty of others had followed the issue through the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, but net neutrality didn’t become a cause celebre of sorts until a May 2017 episode of comedian John Oliver‘s HBO show, Last Week Tonight. Oliver railed against efforts to undo Federal Communications Commission regulations passed two years before, which supporters said would require that internet service providers treat all content equally. Oliver warned that ISPs could intentionally slow down service or create paid “fast lanes” reserved for deep-pocketed customers.