Restore the Fourth Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Jul 4 2013

Location: 

Online, New York City

Restore the Fourth is a privacy movement started in the summer of 2013, in reaction to Edward Snowden's revealing of the National Security Administration's extensive spying on American and foreign citizens. The movement seeks to uphold the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects American citizens against unfounded search and seizure of their property or identity. While themovement is independent, they have worked with people from organizations as diverse as Occupy, Anonymous, and the Tea Party.

After Snowden's leaks, the conversations on social link website reddit turned into meetings and plans for direct action. The movement's first major action was a series of public protests, calling attention to the public's anger at the government's decision to prioritize spying and "national security" over the right to privacy of the citizens, taking place in cities across the country on July 4th. Since then, Restore the Fourth has had protests in Washington DC, organizes weekly meetings to work with other groups who are interested in privacy and Net Neutrality, and continues to find ways to resist government spying.

From the FAQ:
"Restore the Fourth is a network of diverse and independently-run local chapters and a national organization that promotes, coordinates, and provides assistance to these local chapters. The national organization is currently in the process of filing for some kind of legally recognized status, most likely some version of a 501c organization.
Restore the Fourth facilitates local non-violent protests around the country, such as those that were held on July 4, 2013. The purpose of the rallies is to spread awareness of and spur political action against unconstitutional surveillance by the U.S. government. We also engage in other action to spread awareness and spur political action, such as campaigning to have people call Congress."

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