SOPA blackout: How many have joined the fight?
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There’s something awesome and kind of a folksy feeling about today’s first semi-coordinated online protest against anti-piracy bills that have been circulating around Congress.
But how many people have actually been moved to action?
That’s where the kind of coordinated-ness of it all gets a little annoying. Almost all of the striking websites suggest visitors take some sort of action against the bill -- some recommend you get in touch with your congressional representative to express your opposition to SOPA and PIPA, others ask users to sign a petition expressing their concern over the bills.
But even these petitions are not centralized, so it’s difficult to tally how many people have been moved to participate.
Here’s what we have been able to gather, as of this writing:
48,882 people have liked the Against the Stop Online Piracy Act page on Facebook.
Google is reporting more than 3 million Americans have signed various petitions opposing SOPA.
51,689 signed a petition on the White House’s website We the People, asking the Obama administration to veto SOPA.
1.4 million people worldwide signed a ‘Save the Internet’ petition on the activist website Avaaz.org
BlackoutSOPA.org is reporting that 68,620 people have changed either their Twitter, Google+ or Facebook profile picture to feature an anti-SOPA message.
Fight for the Future, a nonprofit, is reporting that 75,000 sites have signed up to participate in the protest, and that between its two sites Sopastrike.com and AmericanCensorship.org, 350,000 people have sent emails sent to their two senators and their representatives.
We’ll keep updating as we learn more.
ALSO:
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SOPA blackout: Who’s gone dark to protest anti-piracy bills?
Wikipedia still accessible during SOPA blackout -- with a little effort
-- Deborah Netburn
