Read

Error message

Notice: Undefined index: base_url in include_once() (line 125 of /home3/occupyco/public_html/dev/sites/default/settings.php).

User menu

Search form

French Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Surveillance Bill, Drawing Outcry

French Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Surveillance Bill, Drawing Outcry
Wed, 5/6/2015
This article originally appeared on Al Jazeera America

France's lower house of Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would legalize the broad surveillance of terrorism suspects and has drawn an outcry from advocates of civil liberties. Lawmakers from both the Socialist majority in Parliament and the conservative opposition supported the bill, which will now move to the Senate for further discussion.

Although it was proposed long before, the law is one of several government reforms in the wake of attacks that left 17 people dead and saw the capital gripped with fear for three days. The attackers, who pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, first hit the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published provocative caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

The new law would permit intelligence services to place cameras and recording devices in suspects' homes and beacons on their cars without prior authorization from a judge. Instead, intelligence personnel would need to request authorization from an independent nine-person panel composed of magistrates, lawmakers and a communication expert — with exceptions in cases of special threats.

One of the most sensitive measures would force communication and Internet firms to allow intelligence services to install electronic lock boxes to record metadata from all Internet users in France. The metadata would then be subject to algorithmic analysis for potentially suspicious behavior.

The data would be anonymous, but intelligence agents could follow up with a request to the independent panel for deeper surveillance that could yield the identity of users. The panel and people who believe they are unfairly under surveillance could appeal to administrative judges.

Opponents say the bill legalizes highly intrusive surveillance methods without guarantees for individual freedom and privacy. A protest called by a group of privacy advocates, human rights groups and unions to denounce the bill gathered hundreds of people Monday near the National Assembly.

Reporters Without Borders said the bill "poses a grave new threat to the confidentiality of journalists' sources" and pointed out that it "contains no safeguards for protected professions, including journalists."

Originally published by Al Jazeera America

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

prison reform, incarceration rates, private prisons, for-profit prisons, white supremacy, enslavement, climate justice, racial justice, Green New Deal

The year 2020 has caused many white people to realize we live in a racist system. The Green New Deal is about systemic change for all, and deconstructing racism must be front and central in this agenda.

coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, COVID-19 deaths, downplaying coronavirus

By infecting three of the world’s most right-wing leaders, the coronavirus underscored not only the incompetence and irresponsibility of their governments – but the truth that their brand of populism doesn't keep people safe.

COVID-19, corporate bailouts, corporate welfare, corporate destruction

Corporations are not "too big to fail" and, when they commit crimes, they are not "too big to jail." As David Whyte writes in his new book, "Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before It Kills Us," the moment is now to rein in out-of-control corporate power.

The world has lost an incredible thinker and doer. I have lost an amazing friend. A void exists where before it was filled with David's optimism, humour and joy.

Kevin Zeese speaks at a rally for Chelsea Manning. By Ellen Davidson.

Kevin fought to bring truth every day. We must not lose this struggle.

prison reform, incarceration rates, private prisons, for-profit prisons, white supremacy, enslavement, climate justice, racial justice, Green New Deal

The year 2020 has caused many white people to realize we live in a racist system. The Green New Deal is about systemic change for all, and deconstructing racism must be front and central in this agenda.

coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, COVID-19 deaths, downplaying coronavirus

By infecting three of the world’s most right-wing leaders, the coronavirus underscored not only the incompetence and irresponsibility of their governments – but the truth that their brand of populism doesn't keep people safe.

COVID-19, corporate bailouts, corporate welfare, corporate destruction

Corporations are not "too big to fail" and, when they commit crimes, they are not "too big to jail." As David Whyte writes in his new book, "Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before It Kills Us," the moment is now to rein in out-of-control corporate power.

The world has lost an incredible thinker and doer. I have lost an amazing friend. A void exists where before it was filled with David's optimism, humour and joy.

Kevin Zeese speaks at a rally for Chelsea Manning. By Ellen Davidson.

Kevin fought to bring truth every day. We must not lose this struggle.