Anonymous UK protests against GCHQ
A four-day protest organized by the UK-based hacktivist collective Anonymous has begun outside Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), backing a legal challenge against the mass surveillance agency.
Anonymous has dubbed the protest effort ‘Operation GCHQ’ and is appealing to British and international activists to take part in the event, media outlets reported Friday.
A spokesperson for the Anonymous said on Friday that the insistence of UK authorities on spying against their own people with no legal justification was a primary motivation for holding the protest.
“Innocent activists who have never broken any laws and act within the law are still targets of GCHQ and other spying agencies”, he said.
While a modest group of nearly 60 campaigners had gathered outside the UK government’s listening post early Friday evening, up to 9,000 protesters are expected to participate in the demonstration over the weekend.
According to Anonymous UK, Saturday is set to be the main day of the protest event.
The organization is targeting the Cheltenham-based spying center to highlight grave concerns over a persisting assault on privacy rights of British citizens in an escalating climate of mass surveillance.
Privacy rights activists from surrounding European nations are also due to attend the protest to demand a surveillance policy shift.
The legal proceedings which inspired the protest were launched by several civil liberty and human rights groups that question the legitimacy of UK intelligence agencies’ invasive practices.
The case, brought by Liberty, Privacy International, Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other prominent international groups, focuses on grave concerns regarding a mass surveillance program called Tempora.
Documents leaked to the press by American whistleblower Edward Snowden allege the program facilitates access by British intelligence operatives to private email messages, information entered on social networking sites such as Facebook.
MFB/AB