Recently, Americans just got a small glimpse of what internet censorship would be like. In a coordinated effort on January 18th, for 24 hours, small and large websites like Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and Craigslist joined forces to voice their opposition to Congress’ proposed anti-piracy bills SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act).

The bills would empower the U.S. Justice Department to go after websites for enabling or facilitating copyright infringement; which honesty means just about any site currently sitting out on the internet. 

The loudest dissenting voice in this public debate over Internet Freedom has been Google. By simply putting a black square over their highly viewed logo for 24 hours, the world’s largest search engine encouraged 4.5 Million people to add their names to the company’s anti-SOPA petition. The company’s spokeswoman, Samantha Smith, also offered this in respect to Google's on-going efforts to police online piracy, “Last year we took down 5 million infringing Web pages from our search results.”

Reddit joined in the strike with a message on their homepage, “SOPA and PIPA damage the Internet. Today we fight back.” And Reddit did fight back, by ceasing their online operations for 12 hours.

Craigslist opened to a black screen asking visitors to “Imagine a world without Craigslist, Wikipedia, Google, [your favorite sites here]…” and then ended their webpage with “PS: corporate paymasters, KEEP THOSE CLAMMY HANDS OFF THE INTERNET!”

Lastly, Wikipedia blacked out their pages for 24 hours and only provided visitors with links to their Congressional representatives.

This proposed legislation pits two of society’s most powerful forces into battle. Many of the world’s largest media companies like News Corp, NBC Universal, Walt Disney, Sony… etc. are seeking to combat online piracy and theft of intellectual property. However, tech giants and social media sites feel that these actions are far too over reaching and harm the stability of internet.

Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of American and former Connecticut Senator, called the blackout “abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today.” He also commented, “It is a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.”

Politically, this is a hot button issue for Congress and the Obama Administration. When first introduced, the legislation seemed set for smooth sailing until social media sites began addressing it and asking their users to question their representatives in Congress. At that point Congressman and Senators began to run for cover from the social media spotlight. President Obama, who has received campaign donations from both sides of this fight, has tried to walk a fine line publically on this issue.

It seems that for now the internet forces have won a small victory with the SOPA Blackout. However, this was just one of the first battles… as the bills will soon be back in front of Congressional powers for further discussion and debate.