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DeFazio also said the bill would mimic how the "Iranian and the communist Chinese" censor the Internet.

Dozens of lawmakers backpedalled from the piracy bills on Wednesday after thousands of websites, including Wikipedia, Google and reddit, protested the legislation with blackouts and statements directing users to contact Congress.

The bills would empower the Justice Department and copyright holders to demand that search engines delete links to sites deemed to be “dedicated” to copyright infringement. Ad networks and payment processors would be prohibited from doing business with the sites.

Movie studios, record labels and business groups say the legislation would cut down on illegal file sharing, which is hurting companies and eliminating jobs.

But Web companies warn the bills would stifle innovation and censor free speech. They say the legislation would impose an unreasonable burden on websites to police user-generated content and could lead to legitimate websites getting shut down.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the bill's sponsor, says his measure would not affect legal sites and would not lead to censorship.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidGOP senators confident Trump pick to be confirmed by November Durbin: Democrats can 'slow' Supreme Court confirmation 'perhaps a matter of hours, maybe days at most' Supreme Court fight pushes Senate toward brink MORE (D-Nev.) will bring the Protect IP Act to a vote on Tuesday. Smith plans to push ahead with SOPA next month.