Subj: Facebook Spies
— Everyone is talking about CISPA — the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act — which would give Big Brother new powers to invade our Facebook accounts, follow our texts and basically read, watch and listen to everything we do on the Internet (see more details about the bill in the email below).
Today we’re helping to launch “Stop CyberSpying Week,” a week of action to halt CISPA in its tracks.
The House is planning to vote on CISPA soon. Please make as much noise as possible right now. Tell Congress to vote “NO” on this dangerous bill.
There are three ways you can help us spread the word:
If you haven’t already, sign our letter urging Congress to vote “NO” on CISPA.
Tweet at your Rep to explain how this cyber-spying bill will hurt everyday Internet users. Use this tool — created by our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation — to find your congressional member’s Twitter handle. Be sure to use the hashtags #CongressTMI (Congress Too Much Information) and #CISPA.
Share this call to action with your friends on Facebook.
Once again Internet users must show Washington that its job is to protect — not attack — the open Internet.
Thanks for all you do.
— Josh
Dear Viola —
Want to give the federal government and big companies new powers to spy on you?
You’re in luck: There's a bill for that.
It's called CISPA — the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" — and it's a frightening piece of legislation. It could allow for a new online spying regime, letting Big Brother read, watch and listen to everything we do on the Internet.
The bill could be up for a vote in the House in a matter of weeks. We've shown that a mass outcry can help kill bad Internet bills. It's time to do it again:
Tell Congress: Kill the Spying Bill.
CISPA would allow companies and the government to bypass privacy protections and share all sorts of information about what Americans do online. The legislation makes it far easier for authorities to spy on your email traffic, comb through your mobile texts, filter your online content and even block access to popular websites.
It would have a chilling effect on free speech — creating an environment in which we refrain from posting on Facebook, conducting Web searches, sending emails, writing blog posts or communicating online for fear that the National Security Agency — the same agency that’s been conducting "warrantless wiretapping" online for years — could come knocking.
If this bill passes, authorities won't have to worry about pesky privacy laws getting in the way the next time they want to grab your Facebook history or search through your email. All they'll need is the vague sense that the information relates to a "cyber threat" — a poorly defined concept in the bill. And you'll never know they shared that information.
CISPA’s broad language could lead all too easily to governmental and corporate attacks on our right to speak freely online. And while there is a real need to protect vital national interests from cyber attacks, we can’t do it at the expense of our basic civil rights.
Opposition to CISPA is growing by the second. Take action now. Tell Congress to stop CISPA.
The Free Press Action Fund fights every day to protect our freedom to access information and connect with others. CISPA would chill free speech and pose an enormous threat to those essential freedoms.
Together we can stop it.
Thanks,
Josh, Tim, Matt, Kate and the rest of the Free Press Action Fund team
P.S. Like our work? The Free Press Action Fund is powered by donations from people like you. We don’t take a single cent from business, government or political parties. Please keep us going strong with a gift of $10 — or more — today. Thank you!
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Learn more at
www.freepress.net. Join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Posted By: Viola Dunn-Thigpen
Monday, April 16th 2012 at 5:10PM
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