Snowden exposes the national surveillance state
Edward Snowden provided journalists with proof that the US government is invading privacy with data collected by the NSA. Social movements used this as an opportunity to point out the dangers of surveillance, exposing how this tactic has been used time and again to repress changemakers.
From The Guardian:
Ewen MacAskill writes: "Along with journalist colleagues Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, I spent six days with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong. He had spent almost all of his short adult life working in America's spy agencies, but at the end of those six days, the unknown 29-year-old became one of the most famous faces on the planet. He went public in a Guardian video, revealing himself as the source of one of the biggest leaks in western intelligence history."
"StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum. Join the movement athttps://rally.stopwatching.us. This video harnesses the voices of celebrities, activists, legal experts, and other prominent figures in speaking out against mass surveillance by the NSA. Please share widely to help us spread the message that we will not stand for the dragnet surveillance of our communications.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit civil liberties law and advocacy center that has been fighting the NSA's unconstitutional spying for years. Learn more athttps://eff.org."
Occupy Wall Street analysis and media roundup is here.
STOP WATCHING US
WHY IS THIS A RACIAL JUSTICE ISSUE?
Center for Media Justice writes: "Overzealous government surveillance isn’t new – there’s a long history of surveilling and targeting racial and social justice movements. In today’s world it’s even easier – with companies like Google and Facebook profiting off of your private information by selling it the government and companies." Read the full article, 5 Terrifying Truths About Telecom Companies, here.
"Given the massive investment in national security after 9-11, recent news that the federal government is spying on hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world may not have come as a surprise. Polls suggest that a majority of Americans are shrugging their shoulders at the revelations of a government espionage effort against them. But an uncomfortable reality of the once secret scheme is the degree to which people of color are disproportionately caught up in the government’s dragnet. That’s because the routine, legal activities of blacks, Latinos and immigrants—96 percent of whom are people of color—make them targets for monitoring in a way not true for whites." Read the complete article on Colorlines.com by Imara Jones.