Stop SOPA: How People And Social Media Changed Lawmakers' Minds (INFOGRAPHIC)

Why Lawmakers Changed Their Minds On SOPA

Jan. 18, 2012 was a big day for supporters of Internet freedom.

Not only did several major websites go dark in protest of two online piracy bills before Congress, but several key lawmakers, withdrew their support for the legislation.

So what changed these politicians minds about the Stop Online Piracy Act and its Senate equivalent, the Protect IP Act? And what got other lawmakers -- who had previously said nothing about the two bills -- to suddenly come out against them?

A new graphic from visual.ly suggests both the blackout and pressure from citizens who became more aware of what the two bills could do to certain websites deserve credit for the reversals.

The graphic below shows the number of Congressional lawmakers who supported and opposed the two bills before and after January 18. It also looks at the Twitter traffic the topic generated.

by visually via

Disclosure: AOL, The Huffington Post's parent company, is among the companies lobbying against SOPA and PIPA.

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