100,000 Demand End to NSA Spying at StopWatching.Us
WASHINGTON — Within 48 hours of the launch of StopWatching.Us, more than 100,000 people have demanded a congressional investigation into the National Security Agency's spying activities and full accountability for those involved.
A diverse coalition of privacy, Internet freedom and civil liberties advocates —including Mozilla, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Free Press Action Fund — created the website in response to revelations about the NSA's domestic surveillance programs.
"The response to StopWatching.Us testifies to Americans' deep discomfort with the NSA's privacy intrusions," said Josh Levy of the Free Press Action Fund. "We must be able to speak and assemble without Big Brother watching everything we do. The freedom to connect and communicate simply can't survive in a surveillance state. The U.S. government needs to respect the privacy rights of all Americans."
Organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum, from the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association to the American Library Association to MoveOn.org, have joined the call for a congressional investigation.
"The 100,000-signature mark is a significant milestone, but we’re just getting started," said Alex Fowler, Mozilla's chief privacy officer. "The next step is to build even more momentum and start delivering these petitions to our elected officials to make sure these voices are heard. We're also expanding our campaign to people from around the world who have just as much at stake in the future of the open Internet."
