We Are The Gatekeepers

Today is a day that will live in infamy, at least in the realm of the Internet. Today, on January 18, 2012, the masses and technology corporations rallied together as a host of influential websites, including such power players as Google, Craigslist, Tumblr, and Wikipedia, blacked out their websites in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a bill that according to Wikipedia, “would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods”. This, from what I have been able to gather, means that if I, a mere blogger hoping to have some kind of positive impact on the world, were to post a link to a page that itself contained links to copyrighted material, my blog could be shut down, I could be sued, and the company that hosts my blog might even be liable to be sued. As a student of business and journalism hoping someday to have a future on this great thing called the Internet, this does not sit right with me.

Why? Because it limits the Internet. It limits our knowledge of the world. What if you woke up tomorrow morning and couldn’t do a Google search because a search result had linked to a copyright-infringing page? What if you couldn’t share a music video with a friend because there’s copyrighted material on that YouTube page? What if Wikipedia was brought down? SOPA is in large part threatening to almost metaphorically, if not literally, send us back to the Stone Age, so much so that it was posted on FoxNews.com of all places that the act would “bring an end to the Internet revolution”. Sure, it’s easy to sit back and say, “Well, just don’t post links on your site.” Sure, I could do that. Millions of other bloggers, journalists, politicians (ironically), and celebrities could do that. But the thing is, that would be censorship. And we all know that the Internet, to say nothing of the country proposing this bill, was built on the premise of being able to express yourself practically any and every way that you choose.

            Today, that is exactly what the Internet did.

            Twitter’s trending topics overflowed with SOPA-related hashtags. Facebook posts and profile pictures decried the possibility of the federal government, who for generations had promised freedom of speech, limiting what could be shared online. Leaders of Silicon Valley let their voices be heard. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, posted, “The Internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the Internet's development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the Internet."

            Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said “I'm a big believer that we should be dealing with issues of piracy and we should deal with them in a serious way, but this bill is not the right bill. This law is very badly written, very broadly overreaching.”

            Group blog Boing Boing posted on its homepage, “Boing Boing is offline today because the U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would certainly kill us forever. The legislation ... would put us in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.”

Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit.com said, “Both SOPA and PIPA are threats not just to the U.S. economy, and not just to all the jobs that this tech sector creates, but if they had existed, Steve Huffman and I could have never founded Reddit.”

How many other sites would not exist if SOPA had? How many others that could exist might not get a chance to get off the ground if SOPA is passed? It was noted on Boing Boing that if SOPA were to pass, “making one link would require checking millions - even tens of millions - of pages, just to be sure that we weren't in some way impinging on the ability of five Hollywood studios, four multinational record labels, and six global publishers to maximize their profits." And people complain that we spend too much time online now….

Ashton Kutcher, the world-renown actor and digital camera pitchman, made an interesting observation that he posted on the website chime.in. In the video (which I would link to but… SOPA), Ashton notes that there once was a time where publishers of information held a responsibility to the people – a responsibility to tell the truth and if they did not, their reputations – and therefore their businesses – would suffer. These publishers of information were completely accountable for the integrity of what they published. Sadly, those days are behind us. Today, any kid with a laptop or a smartphone can go online and completely trash a person’s reputation with rumors or lies absolutely free of charge. Today, there are no gatekeepers of the truth. To quote Ashton, “We are our own editors and our own publishers”.

On one hand, it’s kind of a great thing that someone –anyone – can have that kind of power. On the other hand, not everyone is able to appropriately handle that kind of power. If SOPA passes, no one has that power. The government becomes the gatekeeper and the editor. We retain the right to be our own publishers if the government says it’s okay. I don’t want to live in that kind of world. Do you? To find out more about SOPA and to make your voice heard, click here. Don't worry - the link contains no copyrighted material.