cyber sit-in

A cyber sit-in is a form of online protest where a group of people simultaneously access and occupy a website or digital platform by flooding it with traffic or messages to express their dissent against a company's policies or actions. The intent is to disrupt their online operations as a way to draw attention to a cause.

Historical perspective: One well publicized example of a cyber sit-in was in 2002, with Oregon's Reed College and anti-abortion activists. Anyone searching for information on the college was directed to anti-abortion Web sites not associated with the school. Someone had purchased the domain name, reedcollege.com, which brought many users looking for Reed College to these other unrelated Web sites.