Yelp and Wikipedia join growing list of companies opposing CISA, controversial cybersecurity bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2015

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

Over the weekend, Yelp and the Wikimedia Foundation (who run Wikipedia, the 7th most popular website in the world) joined a growing list of tech companies opposing the the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA).

Yelp, the popular online review site tweeted its opposition last night, saying: “Congress is trying to pass a “cyber security” bill that threatens your privacy. Join us & others to oppose,” linking to Fight for the Future’s campaign site CISPAisBack.org

Wikimedia added their voice on Friday, tweeting, “We believe in fighting for our users privacy and security. That’s why we oppose #CISA, a bill that endangers both.”  

Yelp and Wikimedia are in good company opposing the bill. Dozens of cybersecurity experts have weighed in, saying the legislation not only threatens privacy but would fail to address the fundamental issues causing cyber attacks and breaches. Last week, CCIA, an industry association representing tech giants Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and others, also issued a statement slamming the bill.

“It’s awesome to see Yelp and other companies weighing in on the side of Team Internet once again,” said Fight for the Future co-founder Tiffiniy Cheng. “By opposing CISA they’re standing up for their users’ privacy and security, and showing the way for other companies to do the same.”

Mozilla, reddit, imgur, WordPress, Craigslist, Namecheap, and hundreds of other companies have opposed CISA and similar information sharing legislation in the past.

Last month, the Business Software Alliance, which represents Apple, Microsoft, and other major tech companies, clarified that it does not support any of the three information sharing bills before Congress after Fight for the Future ran a public campaign called YouBetrayedUs that spurred a flurry of angry emails from consumers targeting companies that signed a BSA letter that appeared to support CISA.

CISA’s sponsors have repeatedly claimed that the bill will see the senate floor this week, but given this latest revolt from the tech industry, many watching the bill are skeptical of it moving quickly anytime soon.

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