In 2012, over 115,000 websites went dark to protect the future of the internet
In a massive display of digital defiance, over 115,000 websites including Wikipedia and Google coordinated a blackout to protest legislation that threatened to change the fundamental nature of the open internet.
On January 18, 2012, the internet as we know it nearly vanished for a day. Major platforms coordinated a massive strike against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), bills intended to curb online copyright infringement. Critics argued the overreaching language allowed the government to effectively censor the web and dismantle the infrastructure of free speech.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.
Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 3-question quiz