BREAKING: Donald Trump signs Section 702 bill into law, expanding the government’s warrantless surveillance programs for 6 more years

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Donald Trump just signed S. 139, a bill that re-authorizes the U.S. government’s mass surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The controversial bill fails to fix major loopholes that allow for the unconstitutional domestic spying of Americans’ online communications. Now, the NSA will be able to continue collecting and storing massive amounts of information about innocent people without warrants or basic privacy protections for 6 more years. S. 139 also writes into law a controversial pathway to reinstate “abouts” collection, which is currently, in effect, illegal.

Trump signed Congress’ bill despite studies and security experts who say over-collection of data runs counter to investigatory best practices and makes us less safe.

Following Trump’s signing of the bill, Laila Abdelaziz (pronouns: she/her), a campaigner with Fight for the Future, issued the following statement:

“Our democracy is broken. And now that Trump has signed a bill expanding Orwellian domestic spying powers, the most powerful and corrupt officials will have the tools to ensure that our democracy remains broken, and target those who try to fix it.

For 6 more years, millions of Internet users will have to use the web in fear, knowing that the NSA is storing their Internet communications in massive databases for law enforcement agencies like the FBI to peruse, without needing probable cause or a court-ordered warrant to do so.

A government that spies on its own citizens will certainly abuse this power and use it against independent thinkers, disenfranchised communities, political opponents, and dissidents. But a government that spies on its own citizens is also a government that shows that it is afraid of its own citizens.

This government should be afraid. Millions from across the political spectrum are outraged, and becoming more active and aware every day. In the end, freedom will prevail.”

Fight for the Future has launched an accountability campaign to notify constituents how their lawmakers voted on fundamental issues like privacy ahead of the 2018 primary and general elections. Voters can take the pledge by texting FREEDOM to 384-387.

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BREAKING: Senate votes to to trample liberty and advance totalitarianism by expanding warrantless mass spying programs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 16, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

The U.S. Senate voted 65-34 to pass S. 139, a bill that re-authorizes the U.S. government’s mass surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, without fixing major loopholes that allow for the unconstitutional domestic spying of Americans. The bill enables agencies like the NSA to continue collecting and storing massive amounts of information about innocent people without warrants or basic privacy protections for 6 more years. S. 139 also writes into law a controversial pathway to reinstate “abouts” collection, which is currently, in effect, illegal.

Lawmakers voted to reauthorize sweeping surveillance programs despite studies and security experts who say over-collection of data runs counter to investigatory best practices and makes us less safe.

Fight for the Future plans to unleash an accountability campaign to notify constituents that take the pledge how their lawmakers voted on issues like privacy ahead of the 2018 primary and general elections. Voters can take the pledge by texting FREEDOM to 384-387.

Ahead of the vote, Laila Abdelaziz (pronouns: she/her), a campaigner with Fight for the Future, issued the following statement:

“U.S. Congress just voted to trample on liberty and advance totalitarianism. The FISA reauthorization bill that just passed turns the Internet into a powerful surveillance weapon that can be used by the government against its own citizens.

This surveillance reauthorization bill completely fails to address privacy reforms Congress promised they’d tackle, like ending the government’s warrantless domestic spying powers. Instead, the bill writes into law broad surveillance authorities that the government has repeatedly abused in the past.

The right to privacy is a cornerstone of free and open societies. We’ve launched a campaign to make sure constituents know how their lawmakers voted on this fundamental issue ahead of election day. If U.S. lawmakers violate their oath to defend the constitution, they don’t belong in office.

Once the FISA reauthorization bill goes to President Trump, he should veto it. No federal agency should have the power to unconstitutionally spy on Americans.”  

The bill now goes to President Donald Trump who can veto it and demand from Congress that they instead pass a FISA reauthorization bill with sound constitutional privacy protections.

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BREAKING: As Senate push for net neutrality reaches 50 supporters, Rep Mike Doyle unveils 82 cosponsors of House CRA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 16, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, press@fightforthefuture.org, 978-852-6457

All Senate Democrats and Susan Collins (R-ME) line up to defend the free and open Internet. Only one more vote needed for CRA to pass Senate and take fight to the House, where there are already more than 80 cosponsors

Stunning lobbyists, net neutrality supporters are now one vote away from winning a Senate vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the FCC’s unpopular repeal of net neutrality. All 49 Senate Democrats are now co-sponsoring the move, and Susan Collins (R-ME) has said she plans to support it. With victory in the Senate increasingly likely, Internet activists are setting their sights on the House, where they plan to wage a fierce battle to hit the simple majority needed to force a CRA vote to the floor. Today Rep Mike Doyle (PA-14) unveiled the names of 82 original cosponsors of his CRA resolution in the House. Including Doyle, the list totals 83 and includes House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, increasing the chances that House Democrats will line up behind the move. A simple majority is needed to force a vote to the floor in the House.

“The Internet is on a mission to save net neutrality, and lawmakers that stand in our way will regret it,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. “Net neutrality is going to be an election issue in 2018 and every member of Congress knows it. The CRA is steamrolling through the Senate and into the House because lawmakers are reading the writing on the wall that it’s the only viable legislation on the table. Cleanly reversing the FCC’s unpopular and illegitimate decision is, on substance, the correct policy move, and the only one that has support from voters.”

Earlier this month, Fight for the Future announced a no holds barred campaign at VoteForNetNeutrality.com calling on Internet users to pledge to vote against lawmakers who don’t support the CRA resolution to overturn the FCC decision and restore net neutrality protections. The fiercely nonpartisan group is hellbent on restoring net neutrality protections, and willing to target lawmakers of either party if they are not listening to constituents on this critical issue.

Millions of people have taken action in recent months, bombarding Congress with a flood of phone calls, emails, faxes, tweets, protests, letters from small businesses, and constituent meetings.

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Internet activists will crowdfund billboards targeting Democratic lawmakers who vote to reauthorize NSA spying

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 12, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Digital rights group Fight for the Future has announced plans to crowdfund billboards ahead of the 2018 election targeting Democratic Senators who vote to reauthorize mass government spying powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The House voted 256-164 on Thursday to advance S. 139 which reauthorizes Section 702 for another 6 years without any meaningful reforms.

Fight for the Future plans to put up a billboard targeting Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee who opposed reinstating warrant protections for government surveillance programs that target Americans, and released a mock-up of what it might look like. The group is also promoting a chatbot tool allowing Internet users to contact their Senators by texting FREEDOM to 384-387.

Fight for the Future plans to unleash similar crowdfunded billboards targeting Senate Democrats who vote to expand and codify mass surveillance on Tuesday. It would take 41 Senators to deny cloture and temporarily halt the vote.

“The power to turn the Internet into a weapon for mass surveillance is too dangerous for any government to have, but it’s unthinkable in the hands of the Trump administration, which has clearly shown it will use these powers to target the most vulnerable people in our country,” said Laila Abdelaziz, campaigner with Fight for the Future, “Any lawmaker who votes to reauthorize and expand these unconstitutional spying powers is standing on the wrong side of history while enabling totalitarianism and mass discrimination. Constituents deserve to know when their lawmakers are not fighting for their rights but, rather, obstructing them.”

Fight for the Future has crowdfunded more than $50,000 to put up previous billboards surrounding Internet privacy rules and net neutrality, generating widespread attention.

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BREAKING: House votes to continue unconstitutional and ineffective mass spying programs, rejects bipartisan amendment with common sense reforms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, press@fightforthefuture.org, 978-852-6457

The House of Representatives just voted 256 - 164 to pass S. 139, a bill that re-authorizes the U.S. government’s mass surveillance authorities under the FISA Amendments Act without fixing major loopholes that allow for unconstitutional domestic spying. The bill enables agencies like the NSA to collect and store massive amounts of information about innocent people without warrants or basic privacy protections.

The controversial vote comes minutes after the House voted to slash a bipartisan amendment offered by Representative Justin Amash that included common sense reforms to close the so-called “backdoor search” loophole and restore Fourth Amendment protections.  

Following the vote, Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her), issued the following statement:

“Mass government surveillance makes all of us less safe, not more safe.

Today, lawmakers from both parties failed to uphold the U.S. Constitution and voted to trample Internet freedom and human rights by reauthorizing ineffective and illegal domestic spying powers.

It’s an authoritarian government’s wet dream, and a nightmare for all those who believe in basic liberty, due process, and freedom of expression.

The 26 Democrats who voted to hand the Trump administration this authority, one day after disturbing immigration raids across the country, should be ashamed.

Now it’s up to the Senate to listen to security experts, civil liberties advocates, and the majority of voters from both parties, and vote to stop these illegal and dangerous government spying programs.”

In recent days, a growing cross-partisan coalition of civil liberties, civil rights, and transparency organizations joined forces to support Representative Justin Amash’s (R-MI) bipartisan amendment to end the warrantless surveillance of innocent Americans. Thousands of Americans called, emailed, and tweeted their representatives urging them to fight for our rights and security and end unconstitutional domestic spying programs.

Next, the fight shifts to the Senate where a bipartisan group of Senators are already publicly stating they will filibuster the bill, as it does not include Fourth Amendment protections for innocent Americans.

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BREAKING: Senate vote to overturn the FCC’s unpopular net neutrality repeal now guaranteed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, press@fightforthefuture.org, 978-852-6457

Internet users are pledging to vote out lawmakers in 2018 if they do not support Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to restore FCC rules

UPDATE: 40 Senators are now cosponsoring the CRA to save net neutrality. See the complete list here. 

Net neutrality advocates have hit an important milestone and are gaining ground in Congress. A Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality has hit the 30 sign-ons from Senators needed to force a vote on the Senate floor. The CRA allows Congress to overturn the FCC’s decision, which has generated widespread bipartisan backlash, with a simple majority vote in the Senate and House, which is increasingly within reach with several Republicans already publicly criticizing the FCC’s move.

Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her), issued the following statement:

“Internet users are angry, educated, and organized. We refuse to back down. Net neutrality is too important to the future of our democracy. Today’s news shows that lawmakers from both parties cannot hide from their constituents on this issue. Every member of the U.S. Senate will have to go on the record, during a tight election year, and either vote to save the Internet or rubber stamp its death warrant.

We will not be fooled by trojan horse legislation branded as a compromise. Millions of people from across the political spectrum fought hard to win the Title II net neutrality protections that the FCC just callously slashed at the behest of telecom lobbyists. The Congressional Review Act gives Congress the power to reverse that corrupt and illegitimate decision and restore the basic protections that enable free expression, creativity, and innovation online.

Any lawmaker foolish enough to be on the wrong side of history by voting against the free and open Internet will regret it come election day.”

Last week, Fight for the Future announced a no holds barred campaign at VoteForNetNeutrality.com calling on Internet users to pledge to vote against lawmakers who don’t support the CRA resolution to overturn the FCC decision and restore net neutrality protections. Millions of people have taken action in recent months, bombarding Congress with a flood of phone calls, emails, faxes, tweets, protests, and constituent meetings.

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Net neutrality supporters launch 2018 campaign to oust lawmakers who don’t vote for CRA to overturn FCC decision

Internet users will receive a text message with their Congress members’  voting records right before election day

Internet activists are kicking off 2018 with a bang by launching VoteForNetNeutrality.com, a no holds barred campaign calling on Internet users to vote en masse against lawmakers who refuse to overturn the FCC’s deeply corrupt repeal of net neutrality protections, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA). 29 Senators have already committed to support a CRA vote.

Congress has the power to overturn the FCC with a simple majority vote in both houses using the CRA, which can be forced to a vote even without support from leadership. The vast majority of American voters (including 3 out of 4 Republicans) opposed the recent FCC move, taken just as lawmakers head into a close election year. Due to CRA rules, it is virtually guaranteed that every member of Congress will have to go on the record as either for or against.

The campaign page displays a scoreboard showing which lawmakers have already signed on to vote for the CRA to overturn the FCC order, and which ones have not. Once a voter signs the pledge, they’ll receive a text message on the eve of the next election with their local lawmakers’ net neutrality voting record, with a reminder to not vote for anyone who didn’t support net neutrality in the CRA vote.

See the page here: votefornetneutrality.com

The fight for digital rights has matured into an election year issue. Millions of people from across the political spectrum who called on the FCC and Congress to keep the rules and were ignored will be taking their anger to the polls in 2018.

Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, said: “The public has spoken and voters are demanding that their lawmakers do their jobs and defend net neutrality. Any lawmaker that ignores the overwhelming consensus among tech experts and this level of public outcry doesn’t deserve to be in office. News outlets keep asking whether net neutrality will be an election issue in 2018. We are going to make it one.”

The pledge on the page could not be more clear. It reads, “Dear Congress: Unless you vote for a CRA to overturn the FCC net neutrality vote, I will not vote for you. I have given my phone number to Fight for the Future, who will text me your voting record on the eve of your next election.”

“Lobbyists are foaming at the mouth at the chance to ram through bad legislation that permanently undermines net neutrality.” added Tiffiniy Cheng, co-founder of Fight for the Future, “The FCC just slashed 22 years of net neutrality rules and precedent even though they’re at the heart of what makes the Internet work, and are overwhelmingly popular with voters from across the political spectrum. The Congressional Review Act exists for a reason––for Congress to overturn undemocratic changes at federal agencies. Congress has a moral imperative to use their CRA powers to overturn the FCC’s rogue action to end the basic principle of the open Internet and are supported by the majority of the public. Whoever doesn’t will pay at the polls.”

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How we fought in 2017

Fight for the Future’s small but mighty team and 2 million+ members did a lot in 2017. Here are some of the highlights:

We’re organizing the entire Internet for net neutrality

Along with our allies, we sounded the alarm and built the tech behind the massive online protests that rocked the web this year and drove millions of phone calls, emails, tweets, faxes, and comments to Congress and the FCC. Tens of thousands of websites, subreddits, apps, small businesses, celebrities, and public interest groups participated.

We helped free Chelsea Manning

Fight for the Future worked tirelessly to support whistleblower Chelsea Manning while she was in prison, and waged massive online campaigns that helped lay the groundwork for her release. FFTF Campaign Director Evan Greer wrote about her friendship with Chelsea in The Guardian.

We unleashed hundreds of protests in all 50 states

With our friends at Demand Progress and Free Press, volunteers across the country used the Internet to organize hundreds of protests across the country the week before the FCC’s net neutrality vote. Lawmakers felt the impact, while the protests generated widespread local and national TV, radio, and print coverage.

We were profiled in the New York Times

The New York Times dedicated the front page of its Business Section on Friday, December 8, 2017 to a full profile of Fight for the Future and our unique role combining tech and strategy to mobilize massive numbers of people to fight for net neutrality and Internet freedom.

We built the Internet’s simplest digital security guide

2017 brought heightened awareness and threats of government and corporate surveillance, particularly for marginalized communities. We built #GetSafe, the Internet’s simplest digital security starter guide. It makes it easy for everyone to start securing their phones and computers.

We crowdfunded billboards to expose corruption

Fight for the Future members chipped in small amounts to collectively raise more than $40,000 through online crowdfunding campaigns to put up billboards exposing members of Congress who took big money from the telecom industry and then voted to gut net neutrality and Internet privacy. The Internet loved them. Politicians hated them. They had a huge impact on Congress and generated major local and national media coverage.

We helped uncover massive fraud in the FCC docket

Our Comcastroturf.com tool helped Internet users collectively investigate fraudulent comments submitted to the FCC’s net neutrality docket using stolen identities and helped spark major investigations from members of Congress, Attorneys General, the Wall Street Journal, the Government Accountability Office, and many others.

We brought the Internet directly to lawmakers’ doors

With our friends at Demand Progress and Free Press, we helped build Team Internet, a network of more than half a million net neutrality supporters and thousands of volunteers across the U.S. using peer-to-peer text messaging tools and other tech to coordinate hundreds of in-person meetings, drop-ins, and other face-to-face events in lawmakers’ own backyards.

We helped show net neutrality is not a partisan issue

The telecom lobby poured enormous amounts of money into trying to turn net neutrality into a partisan issue, dividing Internet users left vs right. They failed. We actively worked to organize Internet users from across the political spectrum, and poll after poll shows that we’re winning.

We organized small businesses and startups

We helped hundreds of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups to make their voices heard through sign-on letters, meetings with lawmakers, and days of action. We helped the world understand why net neutrality is important for small businesses, startups, and the economy, which has played a critical role in building support with lawmakers.

We kept the fight for Internet freedom in the headlines

Fight for the Future staff were interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Politico, CNN, The Atlantic, NPR, Ars Technica, The Hill, Wired, NBC, Los Angeles Times, CBS, Pitchfork, BBC, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Reuters, Fox News, and dozens of other outlets. We’re pushing issues of digital rights and internet freedom into the mainstream.

New app helps Internet users catch their ISPs violating net neutrality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, press@fightforthefuture.org, 978-852-6457

Fight for the Future and the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) release tool to fight censorship and throttling

As pressure mounts on Congress to overturn the FCC’s deeply unpopular vote to end net neutrality using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), open Internet activists are unleashing a new tool for Internet users to test their Internet connection and collectively help catch Internet Service Providers in the act if they’re meddling with Internet speeds or engaging in censorship.

See a page about the app here: http://www.testyourinter.net/

“Internet users aren’t as gullible as Comcast and Verizon seem to think we are. We know they’ve been lobbying for the right to violate net neutrality and we know we can’t trust them. Now every Internet user will have a tool to  start to transparently measure their ISPs behavior,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/hers), “With enough of us running these tests and sounding the alarm when there are violations, we can hold back the worst abuses while we fight to overturn the FCC’s illegitimate vote.”

The app, available on both Android and iPhone, enables a user to:

• Measure the speed and performance of their network
• Measure video streaming performance‍
• Check whether and how websites are blocked
• Find systems that could be responsible for censorship or surveillance

The tool was developed by the nonprofit Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) and is being spread to Internet users in partnership with Fight for the Future, a leading net neutrality advocacy group. 

Learn more at http://www.testyourinter.net/

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Marsha Blackburn isn’t fooling anyone: fake net neutrality bill would cement new gatekeeper powers for Internet providers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, December 19, 2017
Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Advocates slam the misleading legislation for allowing ISPs to charge deep-pocketed firms expensive new “prioritization fees,” which would harm competition and free speech online

Tennessee House representative Marsha Blackburn has just announced a new “Open Internet Preservation Act,” which early reports suggest would not prevent Internet providers from engaging in “pay-to-play” paid prioritization schemes. The legislation comes on the heels of the Federal Communications Commission’s resoundingly unpopular December 14th decision to repeal common sense consumer protections, and is being slammed by net neutrality advocates.

Responding to Rep. Blackburn’s announcement, Fight for the Future Campaigns Director Evan Greer (pronouns she / her) had this to say:

“Marsha Blackburn is not fooling anyone. She’s so desperately out of touch with how the Internet works that it would be funny if she wasn’t in a position of power.

This is not real net neutrality legislation. It’s a poorly disguised slap in the face to Internet users from across the political spectrum. Blackburn’s bill would explicitly allow Internet providers to demand new fees from small businesses and Internet users, carving up the web into fast lanes and slow lanes. Changing the fundamental structure of the Internet in this way would be devastating for innovation, creativity, and free expression online.”

“Marsha Blackburn is the poster child for telecom funded corruption in Congress. Over her career she has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from big ISPs. The last time her party followed her lead and voted to gut Internet privacy rules, they invoked the wrath of the Internet and sparked massive bipartisan backlash.

If the rest of Blackburn’s party doesn’t want to get dragged down with her, they need to oppose this blatantly bogus legislation and use their Congressional Review Act powers to reverse the FCC’s net neutrality repeal in its entirety. If they don’t they’ll pay the price come election time.”

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