The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout Anything

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The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout

Beau Iverson Beau Iverson Power
Ranker 239,840 views 30 items
On Wednesday, January 18th, 2012, several of the largest websites (including Wikipedia and Reddit) took their services down for part of the day - or even 24 straight hours - in protest of the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation being discussed in Congress. (Here's a list of most of the major websites going down in protest of SOPA/PIPA.) SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) had, by that time, temporarily stalled out in the House, and its corresponding Senate bill PIPA (the Protect IP Act) was up for a procedural vote the following week. (Some Senators, including one of PIPA's initial sponsors - Senator Patrick Leahy - had conceded that issues with the bill may need to be amended before they come to an open vote.)

SOPA and PIPA are designed to fight online piracy and protect copywrited materials such as films, TV shows, writing and other intellectual property. The main complaints from websites such as Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, Tumblr and others is that the bills are too harsh, and end up stifling free and open communication rather than serving their intended functions. (Here's Google's page on SOPA and PIPA with more information about the Web's critique of this legislation.)

This list collects the most amusing reactions on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere to the temporary loss of popular websites, particularly Wikipedia and Reddit.
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  1. 1

    Futurama Fry

  2. 2

    #FactsWithoutWikipedia

    With Wikipedia down, the #FactsWithoutWikipedia hashtag took over Twitter, as people made up their own facts to fill in newfound knowledge gaps. Here were some of the highlights of this meme:








  3. 3

    Kids Complaining About Wikipedia

    The sad reality is, a LOT of students are relying almost solely on Wikipedia to complete their schoolwork. Don't believe me? Check out all the young people on Twitter struggling to finish their assignments while the free and mildly trustworthy reference site took a rare 24 hour break. (NOTE: Many of these tweets were spotted by the excellent account @herpderpedia, dedicated entirely to retweeting silly things tweeted about the Wikipedia blackout.)










    And my favorite...


  4. 4

    Misunderstanding the Blackout

    Many people just weren't reading up on the information about SOPA/PIPA and failed to understand why so many sites decided to go down all together on the same day. Alternative backstories and even conspiracy theories were plentiful:
















  5. 5

    The Encarta Tweet


items 1 - 5 of 30

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  1. norma
    The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/21/2012 3:24 AM
    Omg Wikipedia is not a valid resource kiddies. I am terrified,this is truly a generation of ignorance that is coming,cant spell, cant write and dont know what a book is.
    1. jr12424
      The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/23/2012 10:04 PM
      You wrote without contractions, haphazard punctuation, and left no spaces in between your commas and words. I am 'terrified' for the self-righteous old doddering fools who rant at the younger generations.
    1. jr12424
      The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/23/2012 10:02 PM
      Our generation "dont know what a book is." Please. Your generation apparently doesn't take the time to proof read everything they post either.
  2. Jack
    Kids Complaining About Wikipedia at 1/20/2012 1:12 AM
    I can't comprehend the idea that are this many "students" relying solely on wikipedia, but the more troubling concern is WHO ARE THE TEACHERS ALLOWING KIDS TO USE WIKIPEDIA AS A SOURCE MORE THAN ONCE IN ANY GIVEN ASSIGNMENT?
    1. chandu
      The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/25/2012 2:18 AM
      yes..
    1. jr12424
      The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/23/2012 10:06 PM
      Here is a troubling concern, your abhorrent sentence/question which was riddled with errors. Please leave the internet to the 'young students'. Sir.
    1. AllieCrazyPants
      The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/20/2012 9:00 PM
      I know what you mean! I'm more disgusted at these kids using a always-changing, user-edited "encyclopedia" than what SOPA wants to do. Ugh.
      Well, those kids will be screwed once they hit college.
      1. jr12424
        The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/23/2012 9:59 PM
        No I'm almost through with college and wikipedia has been an invaluable source. Obviously you can't use it as a source on a college paper but it works for anything else and lot better than s**tty college textbooks at extortionate prices for useless information
  3. @Chhange
    The Encarta Tweet at 1/19/2012 4:06 PM
    This is ENCARTAAAA!!!!
  4. @Chhange
    The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/19/2012 4:05 PM
    This is ENCARTAAAA!!!!
  5. Benny
    SOPA Means Soup in Spanish at 1/19/2012 10:44 AM
    "Sopa" means soup in Spanish, but "Sopapillas" are delicious pillows of fried bread, pop**ar in southwestern and South American cuisine.
    1. Anonymous
      The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/19/2012 11:37 AM
      It's sopaipilla.
      1. NickReynolds
        The Funniest Internet Reactions to the Anti-SOPA Blackout at 1/20/2012 12:57 AM
        It's because the sister bill to SOPA is PIPA. -1 for paying attention.

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