Democratic members of Congress have been staging a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives for three hours to demand action on gun violence. In response, the presiding chair called a recess — shutting off the cameras that broadcast the action on C-SPAN and HouseLive.gov.
But in response, the members of Congress turned to social media. You can watch the live stream, for now, from a Periscope broadcast by Rep. Scott Peters, a California Democrat:
LIVE on #Periscope https://t.co/CtQ2XS0RHu
— Scott Peters (@ScottPetersSD) June 22, 2016
Even C-SPAN is relying on this stream for its coverage:
This is AMAZING—@cspan using periscope to get around the turned off cameras on house floor pic.twitter.com/ktW9WMDQsH
— ɹɐʌɐɥɔɾɐ (@ajchavar) June 22, 2016
Turning off the cameras when the party out of power tries a stunt isn’t unique to Republicans — Democrats did it when Republicans chanted "drill, baby, drill" to protest a House bill in 2008, as CNN’s Dan Berman pointed out. The difference is that now it’s easier for politicians to bypass that by using social media.