Concerned European Internet users will descend upon Brussels on September 26 to participate in Freedom Not Fear 2014—a European week of action aimed to fight against a widespread surveillance state.
Since 2008, a coalition of European organizations has met annually under the banner of
Freedom Not Fear to fight against online spying, and to challenge the hyperbolic rhetoric of fear that permeates the security and privacy debate. The Freedom Not Fear movement emerged from widespread outrage to the European Union’s 2006 Mandatory Data Retention Directive . Since its origins, Freedom Not Fear’s message has been: fundamental rights like privacy, free expression, due process, and democratic participation are jeopardized when reactionary, fear-driven surveillance systems penetrate our societies.