

Protester Nadine Wolf demonstrates against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) outside the offices of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Stewart was one of more than 160 million people who logged on to Wikipedia Wednesday, the company reported. Instead of an online encyclopedia, the visitors saw a black page directing them to information about the SOPA and PIPA bills. Google, which participated in the protest with a black banner across its logo, said more than four million people signed a petition against the bills.

As The Post’s Hayley Tsukayama and Sarah Halzack reported, the protest inspired four co-sponsors of the Senate version to withdraw their support. Protest organizer say 300,000 people flooded Congress with calls.

Despite the protests, the bills are still under consideration in Congress. The main sponsor of the SOPA bill, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) told the Wall Street Journal he would still move forward with the bill.

Here’s Jon Stewart’s take in which he labels the story “angry nerds:”