2012 Blackout

In 2012 Reddit protested against the PIPA (Protect IP Act) and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) legislation that could possibly shut down sites like Reddit. Due to this, the US draft law against online piracy proved a serious threat to various websites including Wikipedia.https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/what-is-reddit/ 
On January 18th between 8AM and 8PM EST Reddit blacked out, for a full 12 hours. Google was also part of the massive online protest.
Due to the protests, support for the PIPA/SOPA legislation began to deminish, as it could have a negative impact on access to the internet. Senators subsequently withdrew their support including John Boozman senator for Arkansas and Bob Corker senator for Tennessee.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/18/sopa-wikipedia-blackout-google-reddit
Category:Events