The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) threatens the Internet as we know it.
Redditors, for the most part, get that. While big media has obsessed over the presidential race and largely ignored the controversial bill, SOPA has dominated Reddit’s front page for months now.
That’s why is turning off the lights for 12 hours to protest on Jan. 18. As noted earlier this week, Reddit’s staff understand this looks like preaching to the converted; redditors have led the online charge against SOPA, often with great success.
In that sense, the Reddit shut down basically shutters the biggest anti-SOPA echo chamber on the Internet—the same day congressional hearings resume. But Reddit’s bold move is about a lot more than just making a statement to their own users.
“We want to make it impossible not to cover [SOPA],” Martin said, observing that many of the big media companies who support SOPA have hardly covered the controversial bill.
Get that? It’s not about educating redditors.
It’s a statement. From: Reddit. To: big media.
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One media voice that’s been surprisingly silent on SOPA is the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.
No worries! Redditor have that covered, too. They sent an emissary straight to the Daily Show’s New York studios.
On Tuesday, redditor place_face turned to r/politics, telling them he got his hands on VIP tickets to the show. He said he’d probably have a chance to talk to Stewart, and wondered what he should say about SOPA. On Wednesday, he posted another thread with an update:
I was able to ask Jon during the Q&A before the show what his thoughts on SOPA were and why he hasn’t talked about it. His answer was that they’ve had their heads so far up the elections ass that they may have missed it. He then said he’d look into it, and mentioned it during the opening of the show!
Indeed. “Tomorrow night,” Stewart during Wednesday’s lead-in, “our guest will be the Internet.”
Unfortunately, Stewart didn’t deliver. There’s always next week, though.
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In other news, that emo goth guy is a pretty cool dude, Portlandia’s Fred Armisen did an AMA, and redditors ponder a scholarship fund.