The 2012 SOPA/PIPA Reddit Blackout
January 2012
On 18 January 2012, Reddit went dark for twelve hours to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act, helping catalyze the largest coordinated online protest in history and contributing to both bills being shelved.
What happened
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate were anti-piracy bills that critics argued would enable broad censorship and impose ruinous liability on sites that host user-generated content. On 10 January 2012, Reddit became the first major site to announce a coordinated 'internet blackout' in protest, scheduling it for 18 January.
Reddit went dark for twelve hours, from roughly 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST on 18 January 2012. In place of its normal content the site displayed an explanation of why the legislation would, in its words, mean 'the end of user-generated content sites,' and it carried a livestream of a congressional hearing taking place the same day. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian was among the technology figures who publicly campaigned against the bills.
Reddit's move helped trigger the largest online protest to that point. The English-language Wikipedia blacked out for a full day, Google placed a censored logo on its homepage, and thousands of other websites participated in some form. The combined pressure produced a wave of constituent contacts to members of Congress.
The protest is widely regarded as a successful, positive instance of online civic activism. Within days congressional support collapsed: on 20 January 2012 the Senate postponed its scheduled PIPA vote and the House shelved SOPA, with both bills effectively abandoned. The episode is frequently cited as the moment Reddit established itself as a political force.
Impact
The blackout helped shelve SOPA and PIPA and became a defining example of mass online activism, cementing Reddit's reputation as a venue capable of mobilizing political pressure at scale.