[jakebasile]

There's lots of disturbing internet precedents being set in the last few weeks, both legal and corporate policy. I try not to be hyperbolic but I really am beginning to worry about the future of freedom of expression and association on the net.

[qrbLPHiKpiux]

And people don't care. Their pocket devices keep them engaged on what content providers want them engaged on. They can't see through it all.

[sseveran]

I think this horse left the barn a long time ago. At least they are actually going to court and not doing something like use the NSAs database and then utilize some parallel construction technology technique to lie in court about how they discovered the alleged wrong doing. This is hardly the first time a court has granted the serving of an overly broad warrant. I would like to say that we could put this horse back in the barn but I think the previous administration made it clear that there is no political will in the US to do so.

[metaphorm]

I don't think its hyperbole. This is deeply concerning. We're entering a new era of authoritarianism.

[to_bpr]

More accurately we're entering a new era of politically slanted selective memories.

See: The bulk phone data collection programs instituted by the Patriot Act, the vast expansion of NSA data collection (of us all) under the Obama administration, the straight-to-the-wire tapping of critical internet infrastructure and providers such as Google, Microsoft etc. enabled by the establishment of the secret FISA court which has never denied a warrant, and so much more.

Let's also not forget the persecution endured by the whistleblowers for the above institutions by the Obama regime.

Set your partisan, hyperbolic "outrage" aside.

[Taek]

Should we not be outraged though? Everything listed in both the patent and the grandparent is worrying to me. I feel like I owe 80% of my identity to my activities and time on the Internet. Many my age feel the same.

My home is under attack.

[dingo_bat]

The thing is that it has been under attack for a long time now, and acting as if some new threat is active is disingenuous and partisan.

[SomeStupidPoint]

I don't think people are acting as if it's a new threat, but rather alarmed that it's reached the levels it has.

That is new, even if it has been ramping up a long time.

[to_bpr]

What stands out to me personally about this is that I'm 99% sure the administration could have silently achieved the same results through a FISA ordered warrant, but chose to go public in what I'm perceiving to be sending a message.

The Obama administration also sent messages but they seem to have been ignored willingly or not. Remember when the intelligence services entered the offices of the free press in the U.K. and forced the destruction of computer equipment?

The warning signs have been here for years. If the loud mouthed Trump is what triggers a movement to change things then so be it.

[gasof]

It is outrageous, but the adult thing to do is to control your outrage and channel it with as much rationality, honesty and balance as you can muster. More outrage supports the escalation of more repression from the left and more resistance from the right.

Outrage creates both Marxists and Nazi's, and IMO both are harmful forces if given too much attention and power. I perceive fascism as the enemy, and both the far-left and the far-right are fascist. We should strive for deescalation and respect for the individual over the group.

[13years]

Spot on. The direction we are moving hasn't changed in a long time.

The problem is that a bit less than half of the country is opposed to these issues at time. After an election cycle the other half will be opposed and those previously opposed will become silent.

[metaphorm]

trends that began years ago have been intensifying recently