Colombian internet freedom advocate groups the Karisma Foundation and the RedPaTodos collective have joined with Mozilla Colombia to organize a campaign calling to have “Internet without wiretapping” in a bid to end “the uncontrolled surveillance” in the country and around the world.
Stemming from the latest wiretapping scandal that accused the Colombian military of spying on government and FARC delegations during the peace talks in Cuba, the campaign culminated on Tuesday which had been dubbed “The Day We Fight Back”, an international day of protest on the Internet.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Colombian Internet groups— along with a number of international NGOs— seek to mobilize thousands of internet users to sign a petition and defend internet freedom.
“On this day, thousands of Internet users to demand the end of mass surveillance in every country, by governments and states, both on geographical and political boundaries,” the EFF statement read.
According to their respective websites, Karisma Foundation and the RedpaTodos are independent groups that promote freedom and security across the Internet, and other forms of information technology.
The groups are related to a number of other advocate groups both in Colombia and internationally, including the Colombia Creative Commons, P2P foundation, Colombian Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), and Chilean NGO Digital Rights.
The protest movement seeks to replicate the mass online protests carried out in January 2012 against two proposed Internet laws in the US Congress— the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), both which were seen to infringe on international Internet privacy
In light of a recent illegal wiretapping scandal in Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos has ordered a full scale investigation into the allegations— although he has assured that intelligence gathering by the government forms a part of national security, and covert operations will continue.
MORE: Santos sets deadline for wiretapping investigation
Sources
- El Día Que Dijimos Basta: Colombia Lanza la Campaña Internet Sin Chuzadas (EFF Press Release)
- Somos (Karisma Foundation)
- Nosotros (RedPaTodos)