Surveillance -- This isn’t a new story
- Wed, Jul 1 2026 at 9:23 AM
Mark,
This Fourth of July, the country will mark 250 years of independence. But there’s a version of that history most people won’t hear this weekend — a history many were excluded from in the first place.
In the 1700s, Black, mixed-race and Indigenous people in New York were required to carry lanterns if they walked after dark without a white person accompanying them. The stated reason was public safety. The actual reason was control.
That was “surveillance” before the word existed. And the practice has only gotten worse.
In the 1950s and ’60s, a series of FBI counterintelligence programs (known as COINTELPRO) targeted civil-rights leaders, feminist organizers, labor unions, Indigenous sovereignty movements, Black nationalists and Puerto Rican independence activists. These groups didn’t pose an actual threat to public safety. But they threatened the status quo by pushing the government for recognition and equal rights.
Today, the surveillance tools are different, but the logic is the same:- Palantir has built a database of 20 million targets that are accessible to ICE.
- Flock’s 90,000-plus AI-powered cameras track license plates in neighborhoods across the country — and flag anyone whose driving pattern changes.
- Federal agents use facial recognition on their phones to build profiles in real time.
- Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” emboldens federal agencies to designate as a potential domestic terrorist anyone who opposes ICE, shares information about the government’s activities or questions the administration.
Government surveillance has disproportionately targeted people organizing for civil and human rights — but communities that share information about government violence should not be treated as criminals. Our physical movements should not be monitored. We should be able to criticize the government without worrying about federal agents showing up at our doors.
But the 24-7 surveillance future is here. Now, the technology allows for easier, faster, nonstop surveillance at scale.
That’s why we launched the Solidarity Over Surveillance campaign ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary. With more than 30 partners nationwide, we’re documenting surveillance, connecting communities and fighting for the policies that could actually rein in the spying.
This Fourth of July, the country will celebrate 250 years of freedom. We’ll be asking: freedom for who? Join us: SolidarityOverSurveillance.com
Thank you,
Nora Benavidez
Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights
Free Press
Comments
Post a Comment