The day we fought back with a list of names
Today, February, 11th 2013 is the day we fight back. Today we will fight back against mass surveillance from our governments. No longer will we accept them surveilling us without reason. And what is our weapon of choice in this fight you ask? A list of names.
I’m all for this kinda stuff. Honestly, I’m glad people are annoyed about the NSA and want to do something. Hell, I added my name to the list of angry-internet people too - I even used my real name. But after I finished furiously typing my name into the online form presented to me at thedaywefightback.org I couldn’t help but smile ironically and the big yellow button I was about to click reading, “TAKE ACTION”. Because it was at that moment I thought, “what exactly am I doing here?”, “Am I really making any difference?”, “Is this list really going to change anything?”.
I began to think a little more about the list I just added my name to and I wondered what were they planning to do with my name? I scrolled down the page for some more information and I found a heading that read, “what we can do“. The first paragraph explained to me, “Governments worldwide need to know that mass surveillance, like that conducted by the NSA, is always a violation of our inalienable human rights.” Huh? Yeah sure, but they already know right? Isn’t the issue here that they just don’t care. Well maybe they’re doing something that will make them care!
I kept reading... “By signing the Principles, you will show that you're part of a movement that knows mass surveillance is a violation of international human rights law.” Now I’m part of a movement? Hell yeah! That was easy, did people die in these kind of movements before? I only had to type my name into my computer from my air conditioned office chair and now I’m part of a worldwide movement for freedom and human rights!
And then I read the final paragraph, “We'll use your signature, with thousands of others, to pressure governments and international institutions to forbid mass surveillance anywhere in the world.” then I realised something. I’m not really putting any pressure on our governments to stop their surveillance. Maybe these guys at thedaywefightback.org are, maybe they’re posting their lists through politician's doors, maybe they're creating a fuss and trying to bring about change? But am I? Is my name and my tweet really going to do anything? Maybe, it’s not the government who need to know that they’re in violation of our human rights. Maybe instead they need to know that people are actually angry at what they’ve done. So angry that they’re prepared to pressure our governments themselves. I wondered if I was really angry, would I just be posting a tweet or two? I think most people tweet more than that about the X Factor each year.
I’m not saying I know the answer, but I don’t think it’s this. Now I’m kind of hoping today wasn’t the day we fought back, because I’m doubting if our opposition was even aware of our resistance.
Author
Hello, I'm Lee.I'm a developer from the UK who writes about technology and startups. Here you'll find articles and tutorials about things that interest me. If you want to hire me or know more about me head over to my about me page
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