‘The Day the Internet Stood Still’ considers “the largest protest in US history” that saved the web as we still know it.
On 18 January 2012, 115,000 sites stood up to the SOPA and protested. Among these sites were four of top 10 US sites, Wikipedia, Google, eBay and Craiglist, that blacked out logos and their entire website pages.
According to the infographic, 160 million people saw Wikipedia’s Blackout.
Within 16 hours of the protest, 2.4 million SOPA-related tweets were published, with “#WikipediaBlackout” as 1% of all tweets that day.
400,000 calls were made to congress, 10 million internet users signed petitions, and 3 million emails were sent on SOPA Blackout Day.
The day after the protest, 14 senators issued statements against the bill.
Three days after the protest, main sponsor Representative Lamar Smith tabled the bill, and Senator Harry Reid postponed PIPA, SOPA’s sister bill.
If not for the 18 January 2012 protest, sites like Wikipedia that “can’t police user content” could’ve faced infringement charges and be shut down.
Click to view full infographic
[via Frugal Dad]
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