#StopTheNSA is trending on Twitter and the “Cat Signal” is up over at Fight For The Future — a non-profit internet rights organization behind The Day We Fight Back — as social media users protest surveillance on the web.
Today, February 11, has been declared The Day We Fight Back, and posts circulating on Twitter and Facebook are boosting the signal regarding mass surveillance and its looming threat to a free and open internet:
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Big names on the internet such as Demand Progress, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press, BoingBoing, Reddit, Mozilla, ThoughtWorks, Tumblr, and Imgur have thrown their support behind the #StopTheNSA initiative.
Over on Reddit, u/hueypriest — the site’s General Manager — explained to Redditors:
“If you’re in the U.S., Call Congress today. Dial 202-552-0505 or click here to enter your phone number and have the call tool connect you. Ask your legislators to oppose the FISA Improvements Act (a bill that attempts to legalize bulk data collection of phone records), support the USA Freedom Act (a bill that works to curtail NSA surveillance abuses), and enact protections for non-Americans. Details on these bills and other legislation can be found in the blog post.
Here’s what you should say:
I’d like Senator/Representative __ to support and co-sponsor H.R. 3361/S. 1599, the USA Freedom Act. I would also like you to oppose S. 1631, the so-called FISA Improvements Act. Moreover, I’d like you to work to prevent the NSA from undermining encryption standards and to protect the privacy rights of non-Americans.
If you’re not in the U.S., demand that privacy protections be instituted.
It takes five minutes, and it DOES have an impact. Make the phones on Capitol Hill melt down, Lawnmower Man style.”
David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress, discussed The Day We Fight Back as he remembered his late collaborator Aaron Swartz:
“Today the greatest threat to a free Internet, and broader free society, is the National Security Agency’s mass spying regime. If Aaron were alive he’d be on the front lines, fighting back against these practices that undermine our ability to engage with each other as genuinely free human beings.”
ThoughtWorks’ Roy Singham also worked with Swartz, and he explained:
“Aaron showed us that being a technologist in the 21st century means taking action to prevent technology from being turned against the public interest. The time is now for the global tribe of technologists to rise up together and defeat mass surveillance.”
In the press release, Josh Levy of Free Press commented on ongoing action toward the #StopTheNSA initiative:
“Since the first revelations last summer, hundreds of thousands of Internet users have come together online and offline to protest the NSA’s unconstitutional surveillance programs. These programs attack our basic rights to connect and communicate in private, and strike at the foundations of democracy itself. Only a broad movement of activists, organizations and companies can convince Washington to restore these rights.”
Today is #TheDayWeFightBack Against Mass Surveillance! #StopTheNSA #PirateParty #EFF #Anonymous pic.twitter.com/EvDjF4Gcb8
— Anis (@TheBlogPirate) February 11, 2014
Brett Solomon of Access commented, saying Swartz believed in an unencumbered internet:
“Aaron thought in systems. He knew that a free and open internet is a critical prerequisite to preserving our free and open societies. His spirit lives in our belief that where there are threats to this freedom, we will rise to overcome them. On February 11th, we’ll rise against mass surveillance.”
To participate, tweet or Facebook the #StopTheNSA hashtag, and go to thedaywefightback.org to read more.
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