Letter to Supporters: Did we change the online spying plan?

Under the intense pressure of our viral videos and the 70,000-strong Stop Online Spying campaign, the government pulled its invasive online spying bills from its omnibus crime package. If you signed the petition to Stop Online Spying, watched the videos, or helped fund the ads in Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ riding, take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back. But the government is hoping you’ll forget about this issue so they can push the legislation through under the radar. In response we’ve developed a new messaging tool to step up the campaign.

We brought you some citizen-produced Stop Online Spying videos and encouraged you to share them. You made a huge impact—the videos have now been viewed over 100,000 times!

Under the intense pressure of our viral videos and the 70,000-strong Stop Online Spying campaign, the government pulled its invasive online spying bills from its omnibus crime package. If you signed the petition to Stop Online Spying, watched the videos, or helped fund the ads in Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ riding, take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back.

But the government is hoping you’ll forget about this issue so they can push the legislation through under the radar. In response we’ve developed a new messaging tool to step up the campaign:

Please take a second to tell your MP to block the costly online spying plan.

By forcing digital service providers to install costly online surveillance infrastructure, this scheme will create red tape for online innovators and businesses. It takes Canada in the wrong direction—a dangerous move when families are already falling behind during unstable economic times.

The government has already quietly paved the way for the plan to take force by introducing amendments to Canadian privacy rules.

Now, more than ever, we need to send a message to Ottawa.

We’re also stepping up our efforts in the Stop Online Spying campaign with another tool, which we’re launching in collaboration with The Mark. Check out the new mini-documentary, (un)Lawful Access, featuring Canada’s leading legal and privacy experts: http://www.themarknews.com/articles/6930-un-lawful-access

Together, we've already changed politics and built consensus that Canada should be free from invasive, costly, and warrantless online surveillance. We know that MPs move when they hear from their constituents. Let’s take the next step together.

For the Internet,

Steve, Lindsey, and the OpenMedia.ca Team

P.S. Thank you again. Working together with Canadians from across the country, you truly moved politics. Let’s keep going.