Wikimedia sues the NSA

The Wikimedia Foundation, together with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other human rights organizations, initiated a lawsuit against the National Security Agency and the US Department of Justice for a total surveillance program that was implemented by the NSA.

With this lawsuit, Wikimedia aims to terminate the interception of electronic communications programs in order to protect the rights of citizens. See the full statement here .

"We are filing this lawsuit today for the sake of our readers and editors around the world," said Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. “Surveillance destroys the original message of the Internet as an open space for cooperation and experimentation, a place free from fear.”
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According to the Wikimedia Foundation, protecting confidential information and privacy is the foundation of individual freedom. These principles made it possible to work together and are central to Wikipedia’s vision of delivering the full amount of human knowledge to everyone. “If they are called into question, then our mission is under threat,” said the official statement of the Wikimedia Foundation.


Slide from NSA secret presentation

“By listening to the central Internet channels, the NSA is deforming the foundations of democracy,” said Lila Tretikov, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation. - Wikipedia is based on freedom of expression and information. Violating the privacy of users, the NSA threatens the intellectual freedom that people need to create and understand knowledge. ”

The Wikimedia Foundation believes that the NSA misinterpreted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act (FAA), conducting a massive tapping of non-US users, which far exceeds the authority granted. In addition, the agency’s actions violate Article III of the US Constitution regarding the illegal practice of secret courts of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).



The position of the Wikimedia Foundation is also set out in a program article in the NY Times by Jimmy Wales and Lila Tertikov.