SOPA/PIPA blackout: By the numbers
The mass online blackout protest against the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the “PROTECT IP Act” (PIPA) is officially over. At this early stage, it’s nearly impossible to say whether or not the blackout can be considered a “success,” in any empirical terms — that will ultimately be decided by how Congress votes on these bills, and whether the vocal, widespread opposition to these pieces of legislation has any effects on how the entertainment industry pushes to curb piracy in the future. But a quick look at the facts and figures surrounding the January 18 blackout show an unprecedented picture of online activism in the US. Here, a by-the-numbers roundup of the day the Web went black.
75,000: Approximate of websites that participated in the blackout, according to SOPAStrike.com, which helped organize the protest.
25,000: Number of WordPress blogs that completely blacked out their sites to protest the bills
12,500: Number of WordPress blogs that placed the “Stop Censorship” ribbon on their blogs
162 million: Number of people who saw the Wikipedia blackout page
4.5 million: Number of people who signed Google’s anti-SOPA petition on Wednesday
1.458 million: Number of people who signed other similar anti-SOPA/PIPA petitions, according to activist websites Avaaz.org and Fight for the Future (FFTF)
35,000: Approximate number of people who sent letters to their senators and representatives as a result of the blackout
2 million: Number of emails sent through the Electronic Frontier Foundation, FFTF and Demand Progress
2.4 million: Number of SOPA/PIPA-related tweets sent out on Wednesday, between 12am and 4pm, according to Twitter
25: Number of senators who publicly opposed PIPA after the blackout went into effect
13: Number of additional senators who are “leaning towards opposition,” according to OpenCongress
33: Total number of senators who currently support PIPA
36: Total number of senators who oppose, or are leaning in opposition of, PIPA
16: Number of senators who remain undecided
3: Number of representatives who came out against SOPA this week, including Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ), Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL)
29: Number of representatives who remain on the list of SOPA sponsors and co-sponsors
339: Total number of representatives who remain undecided on SOPA
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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