Thanks.

David Segal,
Co-founder, Demand Progress.

—

Friends,

I just signed up to be part of the The Day We Fight Back, a coalition of some of the biggest websites on the Internet and their users, fighting back against government surveillance. You should join us in this effort, here’s what it’s about:

In January 2012 we defeated the SOPA and PIPA censorship legislation with the largest Internet protest in history. A year ago this month one of that movement’s leaders, Aaron Swartz, tragically passed away.

Today we face a different threat, one that undermines the Internet, and the notion that any of us live in a genuinely free society: mass surveillance.

If Aaron were alive, he’d be on the front lines, fighting against a world in which governments observe, collect, and analyze our every digital action.

Now, on the eve of the anniversary of Aaron’s passing, and in celebration of the win against SOPA and PIPA that he helped make possible, we are announcing a day of protest against mass surveillance, to take place this February 11th.

We’re calling it, simply, The Day We Fight Back.

The SOPA and PIPA protests were successful because we all took part, as a community. As Aaron once put it, everybody “made themselves the hero of their own story.” We can set a date, but a real movement requires everyone, and in particular the users of the Internet, to get involved.

Here’s how you can join the effort:

1.  Visit TheDayWeFightBack.org.

2.  Sign up to indicate that you’ll participate and receive updates.

3. If you have a website, sign up to install a banner on February 11th. If you work at a company with a website, let them know you think your company should join the protest.

4. Use social media tools on the site to announce your participation.

5. Develop memes, tools, websites, and do whatever else you can to participate and encourage others to do so.