White House in the spotlight as controversial CISA-like cyber spying added to “omnibus” must-pass budget bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 14, 2015

Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

President Obama must veto dangerous attack on Internet security and free speech

Media reports and sources close to legislative negotiations indicate that the final version of controversial cyber surveillance bill CISA––which has been gutted of its already weak privacy protections––has been added to the “omnibus” must-pass budget bill that Congress is expected to take up this coming week in order to avoid a government shutdown.

Fight for the Future has launched an online action page ObamaDecides.org calling for President Obama to veto CISA in any form. The action tool allows concerned citizens to sign up to be “daily callers,” who will receive a phone prompt to call the White House every day until the administration issues a veto threat.

“Now is when we’ll find out whether President Obama really cares about the Internet and freedom of speech, or whether he’s happy to roll over and allow technologically illiterate members of Congress break the Internet in the name of cybersecurity,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, a leading digital rights group that has organized fierce grassroots resistance to CISA and similar bills, “This administration promised to veto any information sharing bill that did not adequately protect Internet users’ privacy, and the final version of this bill doesn’t even come close. It’s time for President Obama to deliver on his word.”

Fight for the Future has been at the forefront of grassroots opposition to CISA, and its previous incarnation, CISPA. Earlier this year they lead a series of high profile campaigns, sparking a backlash that resulted in major tech companies like Apple, Google, Twitter, Dropbox, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Yelp, and Salesforce coming out in opposition to the bill. They have also mobilized more than 15,000 websites for an online protest, and generated more than 6 million faxes to the Senate, along with hundreds of thousands of emails and phone calls.

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Fight for the Future is a grassroots advocacy group with more than 1.4 million members that fights to protect the Internet as a powerful platform for freedom of expression and social change. They’re best known for organizing the massive online protests against SOPA, for net neutrality, and against government surveillance. Learn more at https://www.fightforthefuture.organd https://www.twitter.com/fightfortheftr