Big Brother is Watching (And Labeling You a Terrorist)

I don’t know if all of you have noticed, but the United States is becoming a scary place these days. On New Year’s Eve, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, which basically gives the government the authority to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely, without due process or even a lawyer, if they are suspected of being a terrorist for ANY reason.

Meaning that seemingly innocuous things like having more than a week’s supply of food or investigating factory farms to write an article about animal abuse could get you into serious trouble because apparently those things are things that terrorists do.

Not scared yet?

Well, now consider the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) currently in the House of Representatives, and PIPA (Protect IP Act), currently in the Senate. The way these bills are worded will make it a crime for you to even LINK to a website that links to another website that may have material that is copyright-protected. In essence, this would enable the government to take down ANY website or content it deems in violation of these acts.

So you know that picture of your favorite actor or actress you just shared on Facebook? Or that fan-made video you made and uploaded to Youtube? They would be illegal if SOPA and PIPA pass. And because they were illegal, Facebook and Youtube could be shut down entirely. Same with any other site hosting such content. Or even any site simply linking to the site with such content.

Still not scared?

Combine the three of them.

Imagine, if you will, the FBI showing up on your doorstep because your family has a three week’s supply of food in your house, and they think you’re a terrorist. You’re immediately detained.

Now imagine someone else in your family writing a blog about what happened, and then having that blog shut down because they now have the ability to do that under the guise of “copyright infringement.” Even if there was no real copyright infringement. Then that relative is arrested, due to supporting your “terrorist activities.”

So now not only are you and your relative in holding indefinitely, but no one even hears about it because the government has shut down the internet so effectively that freedom of speech has been virtually eradicated.

Maybe it sounds “out there” but the implications of these laws are damn frightening if you ask me.

It’s not like it’s unheard of, after all.