Thread by @kyle_chasse

⚠️The #RESTRICTAct Is a HUGE Threat to Our Privacy, Data and Communication Freedom❌🚨🕵️

[P.S. It's MUCH more than just a TikTok Ban Bill!!]

👇🧵

1/ The Restrict Act is a bill that is currently making its way through Congress and if passed, it could have devastating consequences for our privacy, data, and communication freedom.

2/ The bill seeks to ban hardware and virtual technologies like VPNs and routers, which are used to communicate and deal with foreign adversaries. It also makes using VPNs to bypass banned apps like TikTok a criminal offense with a minimum imprisonment of 20 years. 🚨🚨

3/ The govt will have the power to monitor any activity used by these suspected devices, virtual or otherwise. Essentially, they can monitor what you are doing at home 24-7 w/out informing you. This includes routers, video games, streaming apps, smart thermostats, and even ring📷

4/ But that's not all. The bill gives the President the power to appoint a Secretary of Communication who forms a group without voter input. This group can ban and censor anything inappropriate or a risk to security at any moment in time.

5/ This means that the government can effectively ban anything they deem inappropriate without warning. The ramifications of this range from breaking up mass communication methods to even watching the cameras in your home, aka spying on you.

6/ It's important to remember that this is not the first time that we have seen an attack on our communication freedom. The story of Aaron Swartz is a prime example of how the government can over-prosecute and threaten technologically pioneering individuals.

7/ Swartz was essentially killed after he chose to transgress unjust laws. A government turned trigger-happy by the Wikileaks scandal threatened him through over-prosecution, bringing charges that could have landed him in jail for 35 years. Swartz, later committed suicide

8/ Swartz's story is a reminder that we must always be vigilant in protecting our privacy, data, and communication freedom. We cannot allow unjust laws to take away our fundamental rights.

9/ In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?"

10/ We must question the norm, embrace our potential, and strive for what's right day in and day out to ensure that we protect our fundamental rights and freedoms. We must speak out against bills like the Restrict Act & demand that our lawmakers uphold our constitutional rights.