January 18th, 2012
01:45 AM ET

Wikipedia, other websites go dark in anti-piracy bill protest

Wikipedia was one of several websites to shut down at midnight in protest of anti-piracy bills that critics say could amount to censorship

Instead of the usual encyclopedia articles, visitors to Wikipedia were greeted by a message about the decision to black out its English-language Web page for an entire day.

"Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge," a stark message in white letters on a black and gray background read.

"For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia."

The protest is in response to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill, a piece of proposed legislation that is working its way through the Congress. A similar bill called the Protect IP Act (PIPA) was approved by a Senate committee in May and is now pending before the full Senate.

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soundoff (12 Responses)
  1. symbolset

    Hang on kids. It's going to be a wild ride.

    January 18, 2012 at 1:49 am | Report abuse |
  2. kyle788

    Down with censorship.

    January 18, 2012 at 2:40 am | Report abuse |
  3. kyle788

    Cnn if you truly have any journalistic integrity, you will oppose this legislation. (You don't, so you won't)

    January 18, 2012 at 2:41 am | Report abuse |
  4. Light1up

    Everyone should have the opportunity to read and observe if they choose so. Down with censorship! Everyone must stand up to these cover ups.

    January 18, 2012 at 3:41 am | Report abuse |
  5. Andreas Moser

    You can go HERE for emergency Wikipedia questions: http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/wikipedia-blackout/

    January 18, 2012 at 4:27 am | Report abuse |
  6. gung hoe

    There was some things that that site posted,that put our troops in harms way.Like we do they need to thinkwhat damage they are doing before they post a article.

    January 18, 2012 at 6:03 am | Report abuse |
  7. ronvan

    Isn't "blacking out" a site a form of censorship? What they are showing us is that THEY control what we read! YES, I like to know and read about some of these things, BUT, it is also these sites responsibility to THINK about the results of what they release! And do not kid yourself, I would bet you that EVERY country on this planet have "secrets" and topics they do not want people to know.

    January 18, 2012 at 8:40 am | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      yep!

      January 18, 2012 at 8:58 am | Report abuse |
  8. rooney©

    I was able to get the wikipedia page on my phone. I guess they only want people using computers to protest the bill.

    January 18, 2012 at 8:44 am | Report abuse |
  9. The 1 Prophet

    Americans have lost their civil liberties and the fourth amendment, are ruled and governed by the federal government ... welcome to dreco-socialism

    January 18, 2012 at 10:00 am | Report abuse |
  10. Andrew

    I use Firefox with NoScript to allow/disallow running scripts on certain webpages unless I explicitly allow the individual sites to run said scripts. With NoScript set to allow Wikipedia to run scripts, I don't see anything on Wikipedia except the blackout message. If I instead disallow Wikipedia to run scripts I am easily able to see the site.

    January 18, 2012 at 10:54 am | Report abuse |
  11. AMERICA HAS JUST BEGAN TO SHOW WHAT SHES MADE OF

    WE THD PEOPLE WILL STAND TOGETHER AS A NATION ONE LAND FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL! NO OTHER COUNTRY CAN TAKE THAT FROM US ITS WHO WE ARE AND THE FUTURE.

    January 19, 2012 at 12:01 am | Report abuse |
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