Online encyclopedia Wikipedia is reportedly shutting down its English-language site for 24 hours starting at midnight Eastern Time tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 17, in protest against two congressional bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) that have attracted fierce opposition from the technology industry.

As per a statement on the English-language site’s home page, the non-profit organization’s members are concerned the proposed bills — which in effect will allow the U.S. government to force Internet service providers, via court order, to block access to websites that are selling pirated content and merchandise — will stifle innovation and lead to further censorship.

According to a report in the New York Times, Wikipedia’s nearly 800 members for more than a month debated whether to protest, and how, and ultimately voted to join with website Reddit and others in organizing blackouts.

“This will be the first time the English Wikipedia has ever staged a public protest of this nature, and it’s a decision that wasn’t lightly made,” Sue Gardner, executive director, Wikimedia Foundation, said in the statement. “In making this decision, Wikipedians will be criticized for seeming to abandon neutrality to take a political position. That’s a real, legitimate issue. We want people to trust Wikipedia, not worry that it is trying to propagandize them.”

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