Thousands of websites call for Sunset of the PATRIOT Act by blacking out access to Congress’ IP addresses, redirecting to naked photos submitted by NSA protesters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2015

Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457
Email: press@fightforthefuture.org

Thousands of websites call for Sunset of the PATRIOT Act by blacking out access to Congress’ IP addresses, redirecting to naked photos submitted by NSA protesters

14,000 sites have joined the campaign since it was launched last night

THE INTERNET—More than 14,000 websites are blocking access from Congressional IP addresses and redirecting those visitors to a site with naked photos submitted by activists protesting the PATRIOT Act, a law that the NSA and FBI have abused to conduct mass surveillance millions of people suspected of no wrongdoing.

The protest was launched last night and quickly gained popularity in a thread on reddit’s r/techonology that has garnered more than 5,800 upvotes. The protest comes just days before Congress is expected to vote on the future of the Patriot Act. Privacy advocates from across the political spectrum have called for Congress to allow Section 215 of the bill to expire, and are asking lawmakers to oppose any reauthorization of surveillance authorities including through the USA Freedom Act, a “fake reform” bill that fails to end bulk collection.

Digital rights group Fight for the Future organized the protest through its project the Internet Defense League, a network of websites that have been working together to protect Internet freedom since the massive online protests against the SOPA/PIPA censorship bills.

“Congress voted to authorize the government’s illegal mass surveillance programs. This is their mess to clean up,” said Fight for the Future co-founder, Tiffiniy Cheng, “People are fed up. No one wants to live in a world without privacy where they aren’t free to express themselves. People will continue to stand up and fight for free speech, and Congress should expect nothing but resistance until they end these abusive programs that threaten our most basic rights.”

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