SOPA an PIPA threaten free speech, even for Ask an Atheist. It may seem odd that a show like ours would participate in this movement. However, we believe that the freedom of the Internet, however defined, is a large part of what makes our modern atheism visibility movement strong.
This generation of copyright protectionism threatens that freedom. It also places the United States on equal censorship footing with dogmatic and theocratic nations we have repeatedly denounced on the show.
We are also sufficiently familiar with religious privilege in this nation to know that the fledgling atheist media will get it in the neck long before the titanic Christian dogma factory has to concern itself. Specifically, the vigilante protection clauses of these bills gives religiously motivated institutions carte blanche to attack the message of Ask an Atheist, regardless of our 1st Amendment protections.
Therefore, we stand with thousands of other Internet resources including Google, Craigslist, Wikipedia, and Reddit by voluntarily removing our presence from the Internet today, January 18th. Normal services will return shortly.
For more information, please see this website.