Draft:Wikipedia blackout of 2012
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Last edited by Samvielsona (talk | contribs) 29 days ago. (Update) |
| Mock design for the Wikipedia blackout screen | |
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On January 18th, 2012, Wikipedia responded to the proposed laws of both SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the site. Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales along with voters among the Wikipedia community agreed the SOPA and PIPA legislations would threaten the free encyclopedia that is Wikipedia and so decided to act upon it.
The decision to protest was influenced by the Google doodle among others, as well as a similar incident with a short lived Italian law that they had troubles with once.
Beginning of the Wikipedia protest
On December 10th, 2011, Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales hosted a meeting with the Wikipedia community after thinking about the proposed SOPA and PIPA laws the U.S Congress had made[1]. Jimmy Wales made discussion on if the Wikipedia site should act in protest, in where shortly after the community took a vote. Around 1,800 people were present at the meeting[2], and the vote results were largely in favor of protesting. A similar incident occurred with Italian Wikipedia on a short lived law there[3], which may have caused the participating voters to vote in favor of protesting.
During the conversation, the members of the meeting wondered if content should still be accessible, until it was ruled a 24 hour blackout would be initiated, that it would be for 24 hours, and that English Wikipedia would be blacked out, and that the other language variants of Wikipedia could decide whether to protest or not, under the approval and backing of the Wikimedia Foundation[4]. The Wikipedia blackout banner was purposefully not complete, and could be accessed via browser addons or timed refreshing of the page[5].
After the vote was ruled in favor of protest, Jimmy Wales set up a warning to show on January 18th, 2012. He opened an area for the Wikipedia community to submit blackout banners for the shutdown where it would show on January 18th, 2012.
Start of the Wikipedia protest
| Wikipedia warning banner | |
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On the morning of January 18th, 2012, the warning for the Wikipedia blackout was posted on the page telling users of the incoming midnight blackout. This got Wikipedia users wondering why Wikipedia would black out, and causing some to worry about the proposed laws when they looked into it, which would cause some to act in protest.
On 12:00 EST, Wikipedia went into blackout[6]. There was jus
t a black background with the Wikipedia logo and some text and a button to act in protest against the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislations. The text on the blackout banner 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.'
This caused some to act immediately and use the 'Make your voice heard' options on the listed social media platforms and raise further awareness on the subject.
On January 17th, 2012, Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales affirmed the results of the community's decision and that it was backed and supported by the Wikimedia Foundation[7]. He called for a "public uprising" with the goal of defeating the proposed SOPA and PIPA laws, which critics would fear would threaten free speech[8].
Aftermath of the Wikipedia protest
After the Wikipedia protest, the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislations were defeated on the actions of protest. Wikipedia's role in the protest played a role in getting the U.S Congress to shoot down the proposed law. Wikipedia, along with multiple other platforms and people, won shooting down the proposed laws of both SOPA and PIPA.
References
- ^ Sutter, John D. (2012-01-17). "Why Wikipedia went down at midnight | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Sutter, John D. (2012-01-17). "Why Wikipedia went down at midnight | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Sutter, John D. (2012-01-17). "Why Wikipedia went down at midnight | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Protests against SOPA and PIPA", Wikipedia, 2024-11-18, retrieved 2024-11-27
- ^ "Protests against SOPA and PIPA", Wikipedia, 2024-11-18, retrieved 2024-11-27
- ^ Sutter, John D. (2012-01-17). "Why Wikipedia went down at midnight | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Protests against SOPA and PIPA", Wikipedia, 2024-11-18, retrieved 2024-11-27
- ^ "Protests against SOPA and PIPA", Wikipedia, 2024-11-18, retrieved 2024-11-27