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Hi,
The Wall Street Journal just dropped a bombshell! The federal government, through a top-secret court, actually admitted that the FBI routinely violates privacy laws and the Fourth Amendment by spying on Americans without a warrant.1
It gets worse: the FBI, NSA and CIA are asking Congress to reauthorize even more warrantless spying on Americans by reauthorizing a notorious provision of the Patriot Act. This is an urgent moment: Speak up right now and tell your member of Congress to listen to constituents, not flawed agencies like the FBI who continue to violate our privacy.
Tell Congress: don’t reauthorize more warrantless spying on Americans.
Congress has until December to decide whether or not to reauthorize Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Section 215 allows government agencies like the FBI to collect phone calls, text messages, medical records, financial transactions and real-time location data, without needing a warrant or suspicion of a crime.
Edward Snowden revealed that potentially everyone’s personal information is being sucked up by the government. It’s also important to note: not everyone is surveilled equally. The FBI has a long and devastating history of wrongfully and disproportionately spying on communities of color. Even today that unlawful spying continues under the FBI's recent designation of some Black Lives Matter activists as domestic terrorists.
Additionally, under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, people who communicate with family and friends overseas are particularly exposed. This increases the oppression immigrants and Muslim communities already experience in this country.
Tell Congress: don’t reauthorize more warrantless spying on Americans.
The recent news that the FBI routinely violates privacy laws and the Fourth Amendment is a big deal. It shows they can’t be trusted with even more access to the personal and private lives of Americans. We need to show Congress that the FBI should be held accountable, not given a free pass.
Tell Congress: don’t reauthorize more warrantless spying on Americans.
Thank you for taking action,
Tihi and the team at Demand Progress
Sources:
1. Wall Street Journal, “FBI’s Use of Surveillance Database Violated Americans’ Privacy Rights, Court Found,” October 8th, 2019.
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