Wednesday marks the shutdown of the English version of Wikipedia. While you may lose a little help on your book report, the site administrators believe it's for the good of the internet.

Free speech is at stake, according to some. This month Congress considers two anti-piracy bills—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). They bills are meant to stop illegal downloading of movies and TV shows. While major companies have outwardly supported the act, internet websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit are going dark to show their opposition.

Why would these sites care? Tech companies and other opponents argue:

• SOPA and PIPA give companies too much power to shut down entire websites.
• Neither bill sufficiently protects against false claims.
• Censorship would increase on the internet.

Supporters of the bill feel differently, citing:

• SOPA and PIPA will be strict, preventing mass fraud.
• People had similar (and unreasonable) fears back in 2005, when the Supreme Court ruled that file sharing sites were responsible for pirated issues.

What Can You Do?

Get your community involved in free speech issues.

• Start a petition around a free speech issue.
• Organize a poetry slam and show off your freedom of expression.
• Spread the facts about free speech.