(VOVworld) - Protesters carried signs: "Stop Mass Spying," "Thank you, Edward Snowden" and "No secret courts” as they marched in Washington on Saturday to protest the U.S. government's online surveillance programs, whose vast scope was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.
(photo: reuters)
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More than 2,000 people of over 100 advocacy groups for civil freedom rights including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Council
on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) called on the American Congresspeople to adopt a law against mass spying by government agencies.
The demonstration took place after the House of Representatives failed to adopt a bill in July to reform the legal framework supporting the NSA's secretive online data gathering including personal cell phone talks. The Obama administration and many lawmakers have defended the NSA programs as crucial in protecting U.S. national security and helping thwart past militant plots. They have also said the programs are carefully overseen by Congress and the courts.