Paul Singer

USA TODAY

Shortly after dozens of House Democrats mounted a sit-in on the House floor to protest inaction on gun legislation, the C-SPAN cameras (and the microphones on the floor) went dark.

Conspiracy? Censorship? Republicans leadership trying to blot out the protest?

Nope, simply the sound of a single gavel.

C-SPAN broadcasts the proceedings of the House, but it doesn't control the cameras. All of that is run by the House, under the control of the majority leadership, and by long-standing policy, the broadcast is only live while the House is in session. When Democrats began their protest, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who was presiding over the chamber, asked for order. Democrats did not yield the floor, so Poe banged the gavel and declared the House in recess. And the C-SPAN cameras went dark.

Unable to broadcast from the floor, C-SPAN, linked from its website to California Rep. Scott Peters' live broadcast from the floor via Periscope. The network also began broadcasting live Facebook video of the event posted by Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas. And while the feeds dropped out from time to time, by late afternoon C-SPAN viewers had what they usually have: a continuous live broadcast from the House floor.

Periscope also created a channel for tracking broadcasts from the floor — though House rules generally prohibit members from taking pictures or video on the floor.

C-SPAN Communications Director Howard Mortman said the network has for years been asking Congress for the right to have its own independent cameras in the chamber, but leaders in both parties have declined.

This is not the first time lawmakers have been cut off on the floor. In July 2008, Republicans wanted to force then-speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule a vote on oil drilling rather than adjourning for the August recess. Pelosi refused. The House adjourned, but Republicans kept coming to the floor for days, without TV cameras or microphones, to make the case for more drilling.

AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., tweeted that the House cannot proceed until order is restored.