Today is the day that Sweden votes on mass wiretapping across the country and the opposition to the FRA law has only grown since first report.
Note: This is an article I wrote that was published elsewhere first. It has been republished here for archival purposes
According to one account, there are plans for a massive demonstration on the day of the vote.
In less than 24 hours, Sweden will be voting on legislation that could, in short, put a massive wiretapping program on people in Sweden as well as traffic going in and out of Sweden. To say that Swedish citizens are unhappy would be an understatement given our follow-up reports on the subject.
The Pirate Party of Sweden has already made it clear that the would be against massive wiretaps in the country. Opposition parties have already also voiced opposition to the legislation including the Left, the Green Party, and the Social Democrats. This leaves only one obstacle, under the current situation of the government, in order to defeat the bill, it would require four members of the governing party to break party lines and vote against the legislation. This fact has been stressed by a central website dedicated to stopping the FRA law Stoppa FRA Lagen.
A recent posting on BoingBoing points to a planned protest at the Swedish parliament that is said to possibly be one of the biggest protests in Sweden.
There’s an interesting account at how heated the debates are. According to Oscar Swartz, there was some minor changes done to the legislation, but the bill remains largely unchanged because all the communications would be copied into a state surveillance database. The effect on the MPs planning on breaking party lines?
Four heroes were needed to break party lines. They appeared to stand strong. But the parties of the government were psyching and pushing them until the youngest member of parliament, who is against this heinous law, was seen breaking down and crying outside the House. She obeyed.
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has alienated all the liberals in the country and is generally seen as a political catastrophe.
Sweden is abolishing a fundamental basis for a free society: The right to communicate without having the state snooping on you without any suspicion of a crime. General wiretapping of us all.
International media must wake up and put pressure on Sweden. Help us, please!!
The events that unfolded in the above account had one commenter asking this:
What did they threaten the MP who took a stand against this horse sh*t with????????? Unless it was an act, I think openly weeping after compromising your ethics suggest there was some strong arming of the highest order. What are they assassinating the family members of MP’s who don’t play ball in Sweden nowadays???
It’s unclear how likely the legislation will pass, but there appears to be enormous pressure from within Sweden. One thing is for sure, it isn’t void of drama to say the least.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
