Thousands of sites are blocking Congress from viewing their webpages in an online demonstration against data-collection provisions of the Patriot Act, NBC News reported. The websites — nearly 15,000 of them as of Saturday morning — are redirecting computers from Congress to BlackOutCongress.org, where users are greeted with a stark black and white warning that reads, "We are blocking your access until you end mass surveillance laws." The controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that allow the National Security Agency to justify bulk data collection are set to expire on Monday. The Senate must renew them by Sunday at midnight if it wants to ensure the NSA can continue legally collecting millions of phone records.
