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.
WordPress.com News 
I support any effort to prevent censorship, but really, self censorship with a blackout is the exact opposite of what you want. A better idea would be to ask everyone to blogg about censorship on a certain day.
Great idea.
So doing this.
This part of my blackout message: This legislation will limit American’s freedoms. The Consitituton states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof; or abridging the freedon of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The Government’s ignoring its own Constitution. How far will they go?
SOPA must not go through!
I signed on Google, should I resign here?
Hiya folks! Just came upon this and have put the ribbon up. I’m in England. I have to keep the blog open for it’s Christian content that someone might need or like to read, but you bet I’m with you all. God bless.
i just signed the petition to Congress. I will be Pressing This on my site.
Thanks for sharing…
Kudos….to WordPress for setting this up
I’m FOR CENSORHIP, NOT AGAINST IT!!! This society is morally bankrupt as it is! Someone needs to step up and eradicate the “ANTHING GOES” mentality that’s been plaguing our society for so long!
Since you are for censorship, I was tempted to censor your comment with black bars through your words, but since we are opposed to censorship, I am skipping the joke. Still, if you are in favor of censorship, I would be interested to know what exactly it is that makes you feel it’s a good thing for governments or corporate interests to have the power to censor you or the sites you visit on the internet.
Thank you WordPress.
Kudos… to WordPress for setting this up…….I’m in
I’ve already added the ribbon to my site. Thanks WorldPress.
Reblogged this on Matt on Not-WordPress.
good
Thanks WordPress for fighting for our freedom and rights. I am heading over there to join in, thanks again. We deserve to have freedom to publish and freedom of internet. We deserve freedom, period. Thanks again. Wanda Griffith
Done, and hope for the best of our freedom to comunicate that this law doesn’t go on cause if it does it will give the european govs a reason to do something similar.
This is another attempt of the government to take away our rights. We shouldn’t be punished because some people are doing bad things. Go after them, not take away everyone’s right to content. What happened to the first amendment?
Reblogged this on The Eclectic Crafter and commented:
Join the Protest!
I am in, but I wish you had the same message in French, as most of my readers are French speakers. I know, I could translate myself, but I don’t really know these specific words in French… Just a thought.
u guys are the coolest. thanks for setting this up and giving us a louder voice!
Done! Thanks.
Great work!! I’m more than happy to participate in such a cause!! Keep it up!
Could you please allow the stats counters to keep counting? I’d like to know how many people have seen my blacked-out site!
I found the link on wikipedia’s site, what a pity I am no constituent!
SOPA in Swedish spells “sopa” – a piece of garbage.
PIPA in Swedish spells “pipa” – a pipe or a whistle, or the verbs tweet, or peep, pipe, chirp, bip or whine.
Now, this has maybe some bearing on the content of these works too!
So this just in. Now that Wikipedia is shut down for the day. The % of accuracy on the internet has just increaased. I hope WKP continues its protest indefinitely.
I certainly understand the concern over censorship, but one of the reasons for the consideration of this bill is that there are people who post such derogatory comments in such profane language which is very offensive. It’s not the fact that their comments are contrary to mine or others, but it’s how they express it. So, I welcome some censorship if it will block the unfavorable language that some choose to use.
I think you misunderstand the bill and the protest. This isn’t about censoring language, it’s aimed at shutting down sites that host or link to unauthorized use of copyrighted content. The issue is that the bill is poorly constructed and would have far-reaching affects on sites that are not committing piracy.
Though outside the U.S.A. a matter to important for the Freedom of Speech for All!
Thanks for providing the services and Thanks for providing the banner possibility in the settings.
I sure will join and support. Thanks!
You get also our full support from Belgium. Censorship can go far, because who is going to decide what can and what can not pass the line. Religious sites could for example be considered as dangerous. All the people working voluntary to make documents, articles for reference sites as Wikipedia and others could find that it would become nearly impossible to provide those who cannot afford expensive reference books and encyclopedias with necessary information to broaden their mind.
Strange that such a country which holds Freedom of speech so high in its banner?
Thank you for providing your services and for the tool to show our protest as well.
In case the government thinks they shall be able to succeed in what they want to do, how does it come than that they did not take measures against all those spammers and fishers?
Enough people get unsolicited emails and advertisements in their email-box and are tampered by fishing companies. That they do something against that first.
Thank You so much for this information. Had heard about this bill but this brings it HOME. I also place the information on my twitter site and asked that a ribbon be place on my wordpress site. Again, Thank You
i am so glad the WP is participating in this. Awesome!
Thanks just add to my site
It Is kind of ironic that I found this page through A blog that had been DELETED (sensored) by wordpress, then on the very same page they ask that I join THEIR fight against censorship ROFL is this not hypocricy to the max?
Blogs that get suspended on WordPress.com are suspended for violating the terms of service that they agreed to when they chose to use this service. That’s very different from an unrelated company having the power to shut someone down. Anyone who doesn’t want to abide by our Terms of Service is welcome to find other hosting and take their site with them using the handy export feature.
Well done , WP !
Thank you WordPress for your participation and making it easy for us to participate from an informed position. I love the video that breaks it down so clearly. Im participating fully – blackout and banner.
Thank you for making this available for us!
Count us in! Spread the word!
Done! Thank you WordPress for setting this up for us!
I agree with the potest, BUT, i think the ribbon should remain and not be taken down until America stops this stupid act agaist freedom of speech.
Thank you WordPress . The ultimate reason behind the bill is to censor sites, governments don’t like and we know it but like king canute the waves will wash them away .
It looks really cool on the site as well 🙂
Wow. Very impressive. An easy way to enable users to click a button and demonstrate, with ease, and put it all back at the end.
Thank you.
i support you 100%
FREEDOM?!!? LOL WHATS THAT?!?!?
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this protest!
Great stuff. And it’s good to see so many bloggers supporting this. I wish I’d seen this page before I spent two hours working out how to redact text on my blog today!!! Oh well. I finally managed to get something close to what I wanted to achieve, so it was time well spent.
Thank you so so much WordPress! I hope that everyone active on here takes part in this. We need to protect our liberties!
I am not going to let “The Man ” take over every thing! this pisses me off! government sucks! I need to get into this! ASAP!!!
Reblogged this on ThotFaktoree and commented:
Definitely spreading the word…greater the awareness greater the response!
Thanks so much for bringing this crucial issue to light for all your wp users. I am proud to take part of protecting our First Amendment, and the global right of freedom of expression without oppression.
I am non U.s citizen but still want to and am supporting the movement 🙂
Don’t we have the freedom of Press? Isn’t it in the Bill of Rights or something like that? So why are they even censoring WordPress/ Freshly Pressed?
am in, thankz !
I’m using the ribbon! I was so glad to see an easy way to join in protest of these bills!
I oppose censorship as much as the next freedom loving American. I believe in their right to publish, assemble for the cause of, or to disseminate their individual and personal view. I believe it is a God-given right to every man; as foreseen by our founding fathers so many years ago. They, having thought so highly of it, wrote it into the very First Amendment to Our Constitution.
It seems counterintuitive for us to “black – out our sites” in order to protest being “made to black-out, wholly or in part, by others.” It appears, in either event, we are giving those who would relinquish our right exactly the outcome of which they seek. Placing duct tape over our mouths will not cover the wound for which they wish to inflict. Perhaps a better cure would be a “taste of their own medicine”, as the adage goes. In the past web-site have been over loaded to the point of collapse. One might make an appeal that bloggers, their family and friends, flood the medias and politicians with copies of our blogs, letters of protest. Being it a Presidential year of Campaigning it may well send a message. Equally, a flood of similar messages to our politicians, waiting a vote on such legislation, may too receive a bitter taste of the medicine of which they propose a cure. They may well succumb to the importance of the inter-net through the loss of their own. Either event will lead to one being subjugated to the other. It’s past the hour that our political figures realize we, the People, will prevail.
Thanks for setting up these tools. I wish I’d spotted them last night! 🙂
Here’s once more! Sorry for my english!
Cheers from Italy.
I’m using the ribbon, but being from Britain we cannot sign the petition.
Can you not leave the ribbon up.
I apologize for joining in late, but I just now got the email message about the protest. I’m all in on this. Together, we can all make a difference. Thank you all WordPress users for helping to your part to take back control of America.
I understand that freedom of speech is very important and integral to our basic freedoms, but what about all of the documents that have leaked and been released by “protesters” in the name of “freedom” that have put our troops in harms way? What about the locations of our military hospitals and medical research centers that have been targeted now because some person wanted to “freely speak”? When does the average child by the age 8 seeing pornography stop? Protesting seems to be a fad right now, my only hope is that people will see what is truly helpful and healthy for their fellow man and woman and start thinking of others instead of just themselves.
Thank you very much
I don’t say much but still don’t want to be gagged.
Thank you for enabling us to participate in the protest in a more meaningful way. Please let us know how many bloggers participated!
Thank You WordPress for standing up for what is right and posting this video. The Love of money is the root of all evil! The love of money is basically GREED!!!
Been looking for any means to do this since yesterday. Thanks WordPress! Let’s all work together to fight censorship.
I totally agree with the comment of joeg 723 posted at 2:23 am. More info by Word Press and some discussion could be helpful. Oh well, perhaps next time?
Loving that little ribbon thing. Good job WordPress!
Reblogged this on KATYA Stepkina and commented:
This ridiculous bill needs to be stopped!!!
Against this nonsense of censorship!!
We’re not CHINA, IRAN or DPRK.
We’re Free!!
agree!
How dare you block out my blog for your own purposes. You are as bad as “the government”.
We did not black out your blog. We made an option so anyone could choose to join the blackout if they wanted, but no blogs were blacked out unless the admin of the site chose to do so.
i m glad wordpress also put its foot in. congrats. it requires courage to protest.
Thanks Jane.
Stop censorship!
Nice work…thanks for the opportunity to protest!
Got in touch with some friends and we all spread the word to put pressure on Senator Orrin Hatch, in Utah. He is a disgrace since he claims to be for freedom and then helps push bills through like SOPA and PIPA. Anyways, he crumpled under all of the pressure on facebook and through phone calls, and other methods. Thanks WordPress for helping this get organized!
Woohoo!
I am participating. This is an excellent post. We are against Sopa and PIPA.
Been “online” since the military and the web in the very early 90s. I totally support you, but will not join anything involving Moveon.org.
Excellent work!
I wasn’t impressed with the “blackout”… the impact was low compared to if sites actually really shut down as Google and Facebook threatened to do. Yes, this raised awareness – which is great! – but overall very low impact. Many people are still clueless.
Giving more power to the entertainment industry sounds like a really, really bad idea. A world run by Warner Brothers and EMI sounds like one of the more horrid dystopias.
To learn, analyze, share and develop is a basic birth right of every Being and anything against this crusade for knowledge is absolutely condemnable…! Raise your voice and join in with the protest…!
Thanks for your work. I have an important message to share through my blog about money, which I’m sure certain individuals in the political world do not want the average person to understand.
This is how my conservative father-in-law put it to me (I am Independent):
“Politicians seem to find something that needs fixing and instead of
using a screwdriver to do the repairs they use a jackhammer.”
SOPA/PIPA is a jackhammer approach. This has more or less already been said, but I think it bears a little repeating.
It shouldn’t be a politically partisan thing, either.
Thanks for your post, Jane. I was stumbling around early Wednesday morning trying to figure out how to set things up as I don’t self-host yet… this was simple and straightforward.
This post really helped. I’m glad that you are taking the right kind of action on this.
I’ve put up ribbons to stop the SOPA and PIPA on my blog.
This is a bold step in the right direction by WordPress. This is happening in India too. The government desires to regulate and put checks on content of all the social internet sites. WordPress. have always stayed away on the political circuit. But “Thanks” for helping everyone accomplish this huge task here. We are content that WordPress.com has taken strong action on this issue, for making it simple and achievable for masses to raise protest.
STOP CENSORSHIP !
I love freeedom, I need freedom like the air we breathe & I love all of you who have the strength to say STOP INTERNET CENSORSHIP <3.
All the best from Belgrade, Serbia :OK: 😀
Reblogged this on thefilipinoyouthsociety and commented:
Correct!
Thank You! I joined in support of stop censorship
Merci
From Spain i´m with you!! freedom on the web , no limits to knowledge !! 😉
I think alot of internet companys will be at risk, it could be a mine field, everything could be censored it will have a domino effect it will get a depressing place to visit just like the closed down shops on the high streets.
This is where I could yell against the wall!!!! Don’t block this block! Proceed with the black!!!!! Count my name. That’s a good job!
Nicely done!
Thanks for making this available to wordpress.com bloggers. My ribbon is aready there.
Greetings from Portugal.
I had no idea that it was THIS serious, i´m getting quite scared now to be honest!
I turned off my internet access before your email arrived, so I missed the boat, when it came to blacking out my webpage. Still, I’m protesting the best I can and signing petitions. We’ve got to through a bunch of monkey wrenches into the works on this ASAP. I hear NSI is reaching past its legal boundaries to keep tabs on Americans who criticize it, so while we may not be 100% successful, one can’t even imagine all the badness that would come from abject failure.
My ribbon is on
YES! Fight SOPA AND PROTECT IP! They Threaten The Liberty Of The Internet!
I am for internet integrity. I don’t want dishonesty online. I’m not sure what censorship means but I think imagination and honety can go together, a parody is specified, acting is defined, and short stories and fiction are categorized as such. I believe that they all should be published with integrity. I’m not sure if that means censorship protest or how that fits in so, I don’t want to jump into a protest that I don’t know about.
But…. I think the list I stated should be published as long as it comes with positive integrity.
Kamini Kandica Abdool
I’m a bit behind on email, and therefore a little late to this blog post – but I wanted to make a comment anyway, and say THANK YOU for making activism so easy for all of us who use WordPress. You folks at Automatic really do go above-and-beyond to deliver not only a product, but a service – and I thank you so much for that. The “Stop Censorship” ribbon is now on my blog – and it looks great. 🙂
Thanks again, WordPress crew.
Argh! I am a bit too late to have full blackout.
Also, since it is only being delayed in the Senate, I think the ribbon should stay up at least until the end of Feb.
IT´S DONE!!!!!!
I Support this 1000% -}<3