On Wednesday, January 18th more than 115,000 websites went dark to protest SOPA and PIPA. The Center for Media Justice was one of these sites—along with our campaign sites for Latinos for Internet Freedom and Black Voices for Internet Freedom and our signature project, the Media Action Grassroots Network. Our decision to join the online protest was a natural extension of our fight for Internet Freedom, a fight that we’ve been engaged in since early 2009. Like others we knew that SOPA/PIPA had the potential to change the Internet as we know it, limiting a system based on relative freedom and connectivity in exchange for a model whereby government would have the power to shutdown websites altogether. We thought it sounded problematic, and so did millions of other Americans. Check out the day of protest in graphic and numeric detail!
Recently, Google updated their Take Action page, with a thank you to the more than 7 million Americans who stood up for the web. Their infographic shows the breakdown of the ways in which the 7+ million people took action—and we’re excited to see that Center for Media Justice is listed, along with Reporters Without Borders.
Since the blackout we’ve continued to follow the issue and weigh-in on the unique concerns of Communities of Color and America’s poor. We were excited to support a delegation visit to Senator Franken’s office led by MAG-Net members Main Street Project and the Institute for Local Self Reliance.
MAG-Net members meeting with Senator Franken’s office
And recently we co-hosted a Civil Rights Roundtable on SOPA and Communities of Color with Howard University School of Law’s Institute for Intellectual Property Rights and Social Justice and the Media and Democracy Coalition.
We’ll continue to follow this issue, so be sure to check-back for ways you can get involved, or to participate in our upcoming events.
