Hi John,

Coronavirus is on many of our minds right now. And with good reason.

COVID 19 is a serious pandemic. People are right to be concerned. And we need to take urgent action as a human society to protect vulnerable people and contain the spread of the virus.

But we also must remain vigilant. Politicians and governments rarely pass up the opportunity to exploit a crisis like this to crack down on civil liberties and rush through policies based on fear.

Can you sign our petition to stop governments from exploiting the Coronavirus to take away our freedom and basic rights?

TAKE ACTION

The threat is real. In the United States, lawmakers considered reauthorizing controversial USA PATRIOT ACT surveillance powers as part of a Coronavirus spending bill.¹

In China and Russia, authorities are actively censoring online information about the virus, and expanding their already sprawling facial recognition programs, claiming it’s in response to the outbreak.^2,3 If people don’t speak up, government crackdowns on our basic freedoms will spread as quickly as the virus itself.

Will you sign our petition to stop politicians from exploiting the Coronavirus?

Increased surveillance, censorship, and other authoritarian policies will make people less safe, not more safe. Transparency and freedom are essential ingredients to real public health.

Now more than ever, people need to be able to speak out and hold institutions accountable. We need to be able to communicate with each other and take care of each other.

If you think things are bad now, you’re right. But they could get a lot worse if we don’t prepare to fight tooth and nail to preserve what’s left of our rights.

Please take a moment and sign our petition urging the government to not take advantage of the Coronavirus pandemic to take away our civil liberties.

Thanks,

Evan at Fight for the Future

1. The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/coronavirus-spending-bill-surveillance-patriot-act

2. Citizenlab: https://citizenlab.ca/2020/03/censored-contagion-how-information-on-the-coronavirus-is-managed-on-chinese-social-media

3. Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-tech-trfn/coronavirus-controls-increase-surveillance-danger-idUSKBN20S0GJ

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.