Join Our Censorship Protest!
Have you been paying attention to all the hubbub online about the proposed U.S. legislation (SOPA/PIPA) that threatens internet freedom? I wrote about it last week over on WordPress.org, but the gist is this: there’s a bill in the U.S. Senate that if passed would put publishing freedom severely at risk, and could shut down entire sites at the whim of media companies. Fight for the Future created this nifty video to sum it up better than I can.
On January 18, 2012, sites all over the internet will be blacking out to protest and try to mobilize more people to speak out against this bill coming up in the Senate next week — S. 968: the Protect IP Act (PIPA) — in an attempt to let U.S. lawmakers know how much opposition there is. WordPress.org, Wikipedia, and even WordPress.com VIP I Can Has Cheezburger? will be participating in the blackout to raise awareness and spur you to action.
Here on WordPress.com, we want to participate as well. Freshly Pressed will be blacked out during the strike.
Sorry to take away your daily fix of yummy web content, but this bill threatens to do that on a much wider scale. You don’t want that, do you?
More importantly, we are making it possible for you to participate in the protest. There are two options: a “Stop Censorship” ribbon and a full blackout. The blackout portion will be in effect January 18 from 8am to 8pm EST, while the ribbon will be displayed until January 24. Here’s how to join in:
- Go to Settings → Protest SOPA/PIPA in your dashboard.
- Select if you want to join the blackout or show a ribbon.
- If you choose to join the blackout, you can edit the message that will be shown on your site during the blackout.
- Preview what your protest will look like.
- Click “Save Changes” button to activate your protest.
That’s it! Easy-peasy activism right at your fingertips.
The “Stop Censorship” ribbon will display in the upper corner of your site and links to americancensorship.org. It will display until January 24, 2012 (the Senate vote date).
If you choose to do the blackout in addition to the ribbon, then we will black out your site from 8am to 8pm EST along with the official strike. You can customize the message that will appear on your blacked-out site to tell people why this issue is important to you. Your site will return to just displaying the ribbon after the strike is over.
I hope that a significant number of you on WordPress.com will join in this protest. Publishing freedom is a right we must protect.
And one last pitch: whatever you decide to do about your site, please take a few minutes to head over to americancensorship.org and take action. It only takes a few moments of your time to be an agent of change!
Update, 1/18/2012: For about an hour and a half of the blackout, our blackout option was down because it was not showing the blackout screen and some sites were returning blank error pages. We disabled it until we could make it work properly, which it is now doing, so anyone who chose the blackout option should now see the correct screen.
- January 18, 2012
- Community, Features, Freshly Pressed
I am like you a stay out of politics as much as possible (I live next door to a CA State Senator, Yes I will talk to him about this if I can catch him as he knows all the right people) Had I picked up on this a little earlier, I would have talked to Representative Herger when he was standing in my driveway a week ago, but I did not… ) I will however make sure that I re-post this on his facebook wall, and I am blacking out my site tomorrow and then the ribbon after that. I am trusting you all with that video, as my current system will not load video… So… By the way I could not see a way to improve your message on the black out. I guess I will see you all after 8pm EST. 5pm PST.
Peace and Harmony,
Sallyjane
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I am joining the censorship protest and I think it is very important that we all get involved!!
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Thank You Thank You! I am going to be participating!
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My blog will be blacked out.
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Great move WP.
And thanks for allowing us to participate, too. I’m in! 🙂
Here’s the equation folks:
A free internet = a free society.
Nothing less is acceptable.
End of.
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In Sisterhood and solidarity
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You have my sword.
And my bow.
And my blackout!
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Well done WordPress! If we go to sleep, Congress will lick the hand that feeds it. This time it is Hollywood, last time it was bankers and Wall Street. How’s that working out for you?
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My blogs are striking tomorrow with explanatory posts appearing January 19. Thank you for helping me participate.
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I’m in! I will be blacked out tomorrow.
As a writer, I added the following wording (feel free to grab and post):
Intellectual Property is vital to our work as artists.
So is free speech.
SOPA/PIPA go too far, and are too easy to abuse.
Don’t take your freedom for granted.
Get educated, then take action!
Thanks for doing this.
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I’ll be taking part. Thank you WordPress, this is an important issue to me and I’m very happy to see so many taking a stance.
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Good on you, WordPress! Happy and proud to fully participate in this global protest.
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Thank you for making it possible to participate and for making it so easy. I am proud to stand with others in protest of SOPA and PIPA.
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The ribbon is in place :). Thanks for giving us this opportunity. Even if we aren’t from the U.S.
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Thank you Jane and WordPress!
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See you all in CHICAGO in May.It cannot stop here.Were in a very dark time.Stand Now or be crushed!
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Thank you, WordPress. Good job! I’ve been wanting to black out my blog but I didn’t know how to do it.
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Thanks for making this painless, WP! I am participating right now!
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I support this… thank you!
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The fact remains that people attempt to profit alongside the mis-interpretation of things..NO–I would offer that this type of a story(or Legislation)–is just more HOO-Ha money get to the church on time–baloney.
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Er, there’s no money involved in our end of the protest. If anything, one of the big concerns with SOPA/PIPA is that it could crush many internet businesses due to the change in how legal actions would take place, thus hurting the economy. Not sure why you bring up church. Personally, I favor separation of church and state. 🙂
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I am on-board. My thanks and appreciation to the WordPress family for bringing this to my attention.
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I just signed up! Stop SOPA! STOP PIPA!
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You guys ROCK! I want to hug each and every one of you, thank you thank you THANK YOU for giving us a way to voice our objections, without forcing everyone to do so or ignoring the issue altogether. Someone’s been really busy in the background… a special hug for *them*!
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I agree that freedom of speech is of some importance but I doubt that some politician is going to care that websites are blacked out.
The blackout will most likely be a futile gesture that will only inconvenience internet users.
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I do not show the Stop SOPA thing in my settings. Is there a reason for that?
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Hi Stephie. That URL is a self-hosted site, not one hosted here on WordPress.com. If you want to join the blackout, install one of these plugins.
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Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I applaud this effort, there must be a venue for freedom of speech online, it is already sensored, but at least there’s a semblance of freedom barely, if we lose that then might as well go back to writing diaries that we can not share with each other, how depressing would that be?
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I just heard about this today (so sorry, not updated on current news). The video clearly explained the effects of SOPA/PIPA. I joined the protest and posted the video on my blog so others can also understand it better.
Great work WordPress! 🙂
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Thank you! This is much simpler than what I was planning to do.
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JOSHROBERTNAY.COM is now BLACKED OUT! Stop SOPA/PIPA!
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Great Action
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I wanted to do something like that though I couldn’t, all I did was making all my posts private, and publicizing only one #SOPASTRIKE post I made earlier today. Thanks WP for giving me a chance to show more support for the anti-SOPA/PIPA movement!
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Many thanks for making this available. I’ve got it set to black out my three WP.com blogs and will thus be able to send a message to tens – nay, DOZENS of people!
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I’ve Tweet’d, Facebook’d and now WordPressed my protest. Well said abandonculture “A free internet = a free society”. Let’s keep it that way for future generations as they deserve the same privileges that we have had and enjoyed.
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graet move wp. I am going to be participating!
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Thank you for the setting, I’m in! I live in France, and this could all too easily happen here…
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I’m inSwitzerland. But I choice the black-out for my websites FAICMFSF today. We are in free countries and the censure isn’t a good thing to catch the spys. Sorry for my english.
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Me too! I also joining the protest as well! Stop censorship in America! This not Iran or Russia as well!
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Reblogged this on Paolo Belcastro.
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We deserve the freedom to express ourselves. Government cannot tell us what to speak and what not to
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Thank you that is great. I just activated mine … one little thing: It would have been great if the blackout would have started right away. Some of us are non-americans and are surfing on other timezones. Wikipedia has already started theirs 🙂
Other than that thank you for providing this tool for us.
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Okay, WordPress.Org folks if you were searching here are the plugins. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/sopa
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Thank you for adding you huge media to the protests! I am using the banner and will post about this too, since it is a world issue here. I hope all this makes the government see beyond their own desks and finally understand what the internet is about.
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I will be doing the same! I have been spreading the word about this bill. Hopefully people will take some time and pay attention
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I JUST VOTED ON ANOTHER SITE for the same thing!
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I have joined in! 🙂
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Thanks Jane. I’m in.
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Older Eyes is all in! Thanks for setting this up.
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I proudly stand with you concerning this vital issue – let our voices be many, and let each of them be heard!
~Don
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I absolutely LOVE that the team at WordPress developed this to let us easily show our solidarity on this issue. Thank you!!
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I’m italian blogger (sorry for my english … ) but i’m on your side, the freedom has no geographical boundaries.
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shineonscotland.org.uk and all our blogs and sites hosted on wordpress.org will also support ! will make settings change shortly
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Thank you!
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What your are doing in America is amazing, us in France we are also “follow” and “watch” because of the “Adopi” law, that’s we also try to protest: [http://www.laquadrature.net/fr], not only against that law but also against the news ones coming soon from the UE Parliament. We do support your actions. Good luck.
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I was looking everywhere to help do my part in support of this. Thank you WordPress!
WRC559.com Supports The Blackout!
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Sorry but the USA as never be a Democracy, so what do you expect?
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Thanks for posting this! I am with you!!
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Me sumo, ya he puesto la cinta.
I join because I have the ribbon.
¡NO A LA CENSURA!. STOP CENSORSHIP!
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Your way of asking is the right way to go – clear statement and over to all of us to act, but also making a ‘how to act’ straightforward. The value of community and thoughtfulness is so much better than the authoritarian approach, thanks for the work you put in to get to this place. We might even find a way to get through the problems, instead of just driving them underground to re-emerge some other way.
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… thanks WP for setting this up for us! Down with SOPA and PIPA!
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I’m in! Blacked out all of my blogs! Thanks for making it so easy to participate, WordPress!
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Many german bloggers are participating to fight SOPA, PIPA and ACTA (http://www.stopacta.info/).
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Great idea for making it easy. I am joining in full protest.
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Brilliant! I’ve added the ribbon to my blog. Thank you and Down with SOPA and PIPA! 😦
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thank you…
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well done, i’m with you.
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Would be nice to have the “Stop Censorship” ribbon in Germany, too.
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On my blog it works only as ribbon 😦 (I’ve already written to tech support…)
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Our blog’s form of protest: http://thebackgroundstory.com/2012/01/18/sopa-and-pipa/
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fully behind ths
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Most people aren’t aware that radio started out in a similar way to the internet. Ordinary people transmitted their ‘blogs’ across the airwaves. Radio was heralded as giving ‘voice to the people’ when it first started out.
But soon government regulation divided up the bandwidth and made it too costly for the average citizen to be their own radio station. (… that is until the internet came along and gave birth to internet radio!)
Every new media without exception has followed the trend of being in the hands of the many and ending up in the hands of the few.
Not this time!
Thanks wordpress, good work 🙂
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Participating myself. I am happy I came to your dimension in such a moment when I can be of help to this protest.
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Joined: http://Wir-sprechen-Online.com – Thanks a lot for offering these settings!
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I make black background because of protest…
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Raise your hands against SOPA/PIPA.
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I’m joining the protest, thanks WP for this!
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I am in!
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Dear WordPress
I support your right to object to changes in the law. But please recognise that you are an international companies with international customers. Whilst it is clearly a fact that changes in US law often have much wider international implications than changes in any other country’s laws the issue you are protesting is essentially a domestic US issue. Why do all your international customers (or those of Wikepedia) have to be penalised about a US domestic pursuit? Would you, for example, do the same thing if there was an equivalent issue in an EU country?
Interested in your comments.
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Given that the legislation is targeted at “non-domestic” websites, SOPA/PIPA would have a big effect on international sites — at least sites that want anyone from the U.S. to be able to access them.
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Awesome. Thanks for having this for the .com users. I used a piece of code that I got from the forums to create a similar effect on mine. I went dark last night (UK time) May switch to the official one.
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I want to know if the full black out page feature is only for people living in US because it is not working for me even I chose it. I see only the ribbon. My time is GMT +4. Help me, I want to display the full black out page. Thank.
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What a strange system, in which there is a risk of a bill being passed that everyone seems opposed to, apart from the corporations backing it.
My blog will be blacked out.
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DONE
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This is a critical cause — thanks for making it easy to have my blogs participate. All four will be blacked out.
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I don’t understand how doing exactly what they are proposing will do anything to stop the potential threat. Yeah I get the point, censorship is a bad thing and it sucks that they want to take away even more of our freedoms, but look at it from their point of view. Do you think that by self-censoring they (the lawmakers) are going to change their minds? No! They are going to laugh at all of you! the idiocy of the people they are already controlling.
You can’t be treated like an adult by acting like a little kid. Temper tantrums are treated with time-outs. If you want real change, you have to think like your enemy. If you want to sit at the “big kid’s table”, act like one.
This is no different than protesters who bang on drums and wear scarves over their faces. This has NEVER changed anything for the good!!!
This is being exactly what is called a “Useful Idiot.” I tried to look up who came up with that term so that you could look it up and see what I’m talking about but the information has been self-censored…
So how is that helpful?
Think about it. Then put your efforts into some much more useful tactics, like educating instead of propagandizing.
-C
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The blacking out is not what we hope will convince legislators. The blacking out is intended to get web users who don’t usually bother with things like contacting their representatives to realize the potential effects of these bills, then take action as suggested on our blackout pages, where forms are provided to send emails to Congress, make calls, or sign petitions, based on where you live. It is a deluge of emails and phone calls that is intended to change legislator minds.
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Thanks very much. I have now joined the blackout.
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Reblogged this on aRVee and commented:
If you’d like to join the protest, join now by following the instructions below.
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Thanks for this!
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I have put all my wordpress sites black to protest
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