An anti-NSA surveillance nationwide protest and online campaign is launching on Thursday. It aims to restore the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which protects US citizens from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
The ‘Restore the Fourth’ campaign was born on Reddit last month and is being supported by Mozilla, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and other US and international press freedom organizations.
“The purpose of the rallies is to spread awareness of and spur political action against unconstitutional spying by the U.S. government,” the campaign stated on its official website.
There will also be live protests in dozens of US major cities, which are expected to draw up to 20,000 people in the nation’s larger cities. Pre
ss freedom advocates say the protests are crucial because the mainstream media is not adequately covering the NSA leaks and their importance to everyday citizens. Demonstrations are also planned in Canada and the UK.
Many former Obama supporters/donors at NYC #restorethe4th rally voicing disappointment w/ Pres who promised changed pic.twitter.com/tkbnBQJvwm
19:35 GMT: Around 500 people met up in New York City’s Union Square to listen to privacy advocates and civil liberties groups discuss Fourth Amendment rights, CNET reported
Protesters gather in Atlanta (image from http://www.rightnow.io)
19:02 GMT: Demonstrators rallied at the Utah Veterans Memorial Park on Thursday, protesting against the NSA’s $1.5 billion Utah Data Center,
believing it to be an example of the government’s trampling on Fourth Amendment rights, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.