Edward Snowden, Pussy Riot, and Ai Weiwei are partnering AdBlock to protest censorship
Amnesty International
Prominent activists ranging from Edward Snowden to Pussy Riot plan on Friday to spread online protests against growing government restrictions on citizens’ expression, marking an annual world day against cyber censorship.
In one message, Snowden, who has been in self-imposed exile in Russia since 2013 after revealing via the Guardian that the US government ran secret and illegal domestic and international surveillance programs, will tell the public: “Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched and recorded.”
The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will also take part. One of his messages will read: “Without freedom of speech there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.”
Ai has long suffered from various forms of oppression and censorship by China’s government.
Other messages will be published from citizens of North Korea. Amnesty International says North Korea subjects its people to the highest levels of censorship in the world, with the vast majority of citizens denied any access to the internet.
The online messages are part of activities to mark World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an annual online event started in 2008 by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International.
This year, Amnesty has teamed up with the controversial online advertisement-blocking company AdBlock to bring activists’ voices to the public.
On Friday, when users of AdBlock begin browsing online they will be presented with an announcement asking if they would like to see messages from Amnesty International where ads would normally appear, if they were not blocked.
Amnesty International
According to a statement from Amnesty International, if users click through, they will see the notes written by the activists as well as content from ordinary people “whom governments have tried to silence”.
“Authorities don’t just use handcuffs and arrests but also media attacks,” the message from Pussy Riot will read.
Pussy Riot, an activist female punk collective that has had frequent high-profile run-ins with Russian authorities, released its latest protest song last month.
Many governments around the world are “avidly” seeking to control “ever greater” aspects of their citizens’ online communication, Amnesty warned on Friday, while some seek laws empowering their authorities to carry out intrusive mass surveillance while censoring what people see online.
“Others are trying to acquire technologies that allow them to spy on people, hack their devices or censor free expression online,” the Amnesty statement said.
In 2015, Amnesty recorded people being arrested in more than 16 countries for saying or doing online what would in most countries be regarded as normal freedom of expression.
“Some states are engaged in Orwellian levels of surveillance, particularly targeting the lives and work of the people who defend our human rights – lawyers, journalists and peaceful activists,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International secretary general.
“This continuing development of new methods of repression in reaction to increased connectivity is a major threat to our freedom of expression.”
Gabriel Cubbage, chief executive of AdBlock, said the company would show Amnesty’s online banners in place of ads to its 40 million users for one day only.
The rise of advert blocking software has prompted great anxiety in the online news media, which relies on ad revenue, especially when content is free.
The controversy over ad blocking does not seem to have deterred the likes of Snowden and Pussy Riot from participating in AdBlock’s event with Amnesty.
This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk
This article was written by Joanna Walters from The Guardian and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
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