A petition calling for the British government to act to cancel Brexit has reached three million signatures.
The official website crashed on Thursday morning as the petition to revoke Article 50, which governs Britain's withdrawal from the EU, gained the highest-ever volume of sign-ups, according to parliament's official petitions committee.
Many celebrities and lawmakers tweeted support for the petition, one of the most popular ever submitted to parliament's website.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote that "an issue as big and important as Brexit should not come down to petitions - that said, if you are frustrated that the (prime minister) is just not listening, you can sign here".
Prime Minister Theresa May's office said May "will not countenance revoking Article 50".
May's leader in parliament Andrea Leadsom told MPs on Thursday that "should the petition reach more than 17.4 million signatures, there would be a very clear case for taking action".
Leadsom was referring to the 17.4 million votes, or 52 per cent, in favour of Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
Colin Talbot, a professor of government at Manchester University, said the Twitter-led surge in support for the petition was "quite extraordinary".
"It clearly shows the increasing power of social media ... and of course it will be a massive morale boost to Remainers of all stripes," Talbot wrote in a blog post.
"There is no corresponding mobilization on the Leave side," he said, adding that "MPs will notice".
"The petition allows them to see what the response is in their areas. They know that this level of activity about anything is significant."
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