Wikipedia, Reddit to ‘Black Out’ Wednesday in Protest of SOPA

January 18 could prove to be an unprecedented day in the history of the Internet. For the first time, several of the world’s most popular websites will “black out,” or go offline, in protest of the Stop Online Piracy and PROTECT IP Acts (SOPA and PIPA, respectively). These bills were designed primarily to stop foreign-based websites from violating U.S. copyrights online. However, glaring flaws leave room for fears of Internet censorship equivalent to that of North Korea and Cuba.

One of Wikipedia's proposed 'blackout pages' for Wednesday, Jan. 18

A number of high-profile websites have now officially released statements declaring that full blackouts will indeed happen tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18. The most notable of these is Wikipedia, whose English-language site will be shut down for a full 24 hours, from midnight EST on January 18 until midnight EST January 19. The English Wikipedia houses nearly 3,850,000 articles and receives roughly 25 million visitors a day from around the world. Tomorrow, however, Wikipedia’s largest Encyclopedia will be replaced by proposed “blackout pages,” detailing information about the proposed SOPA and PIPA acts.

Joining Wikipedia in the blackout is social news site Reddit, which will be offline for a total of 12 hours. The original “lolcat” weblog Cheezburger.com, which receives as many as 1,500,000 hits per day, will also be offline, as will the group blog BoingBoing.net. While they have not yet announced a blackout, Internet staples Google, eBay, Mozilla, Twitter, Facebook, AOL, Craigslist and other giants have also openly protested both SOPA and PIPA.

“The potential for abuse of power through digital networks—upon which we as citizens now depend for nearly everything, including our politics—is one of the most insidious threats to democracy in the Internet age,” says Rebecca MacKinnon of the New York Times. “This is no time for politicians and industry lobbyists in Washington to be devising new Internet censorship mechanisms, adding new opportunities for abuse of corporate and government power over online speech.”

To learn more about SOPA and PIPA and find out what you can do to make your voice heard, visit AmericanCensorship.org.