Cite This: Wikipedia Site To "Black Out"

Seeing something like this? Here's why:

If you're a high school student studying for midterms, this is just not your week. Come tomorrow (or today), you will find that you're out of luck when it comes to your favorite online encyclopedia; turns out Wikipedia is going on vacation.

You're probably thinking, "what the @#$%!?!?!" but don't fret, it's for the greater good. 

In protest of anti-piracy legislation making its way through Congress, Wikipedia is making itself a "sacrificial lamb" of sorts to advocate against the proposed new tools for censorship. The popular informational resource joins companies such as Google and Facebook in protest and will disable its English version for 24 hours.

What's the big deal?!

The big deal is this, "If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States," the Wikimedia foundation said. With supporters from the film and music industry concerned over the frequency at which their products and services are taken advantage of, the concept of intellectual property becomes a significant argument. However, opponents of the proposed legislation have built their cause around issues relating to free speech and privacy. Security on the internet has been a developing topic as social media and many businesses convert to virtual engagement.

Wikipedia has made an appeal to users and supporters of their message to contact members of Congress citing movements like the Arab Spring to press their point. They also mentioned their dissatisfaction with their need to make such a statement by barring users for 24 hours. Jay Walsh, spokesperson for Wikimedia was quoted in an article by Sarah Skidmore on Boston.com saying, "Wikipedia is about being open. We are not about shutting down and protesting. It's not a muscle that is normally flexed."

Countries like China and North Korea are severely monitored by their governments. (China even goes so far as to censor specific keywords in search engines!) While the United States is unlikely to go so far, how far is too far? 

Are you with Wikipedia or against? We want to see some free expression in action and hear your thoughts. Leave us a comment, chat with us on Facebook or send us a tweet @COSMOpolitique.

And take a look at what China is censoring (but you might have to wait until Thursday)!