The hacktivist collective known as Anonymous is calling for an internet blackout on Monday, April 22, in protest of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that recently passed the House of Representatives.
The group is also "encouraging" all web developers and website owners to go dark on Monday, and display a message as to why, and encourage others to do the same.
The call for a blackout is being spread with a newly released video (above) and also on a Facebook page.
Text of the video statement follows:
Dear citizens of the internet,
We are Anonymous.
The United States Government is again attempting to control and censor the internet. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act has just recently passed the house.
This bill would allow major internet entities such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google to voluntarily share your personal information with the U.S. Government. This will not only effect users in the United States, but also anyone with an account with these companies.
This upcoming Monday, April the 22nd, we invite you to join Anonymous in a internet blackout. We encourage all web developers and website owners to go dark on this date. Display a message as to why you are going dark, and encourage others to do the same.
We hope, just like the successful protest over the Stop Online Piracy Act, we can encourage the senate to stop this bill.
Spread the message, and inform the world.
We are Anonymous
We are the people
We are the internetKnowledge is free
