Multiple U.S. Internet companies are planning to launch an on-line protest on the Independence Day against sweeping surveillance of telephone records and Internet traffic by the National Security Agency (NSA), media reports said Tuesday.
The Hill, which specializes in reporting the Congress, said Tuesday afternoon that companies including Reddit, Mozilla, 4chan and WordPress will display anti-NSA spying messages on their home pages on Thursday.
They will also direct people to the site CallForFreedom.org, where supporters can donate money to help fund TV ads against the intelligence programs and press for action from lawmakers, the report said.
The on-line protest was organized by Internet Defense League, which estimates that thousands of sites will participate.
"The NSA programs that have been exposed are blatantly unconstitutional, and have a detrimental effect on free speech and freedom of press worldwide," said Tiffiniy Cheng, a spokeswoman for the Internet Defense League.
Two classified NSA surveillance programs, one collecting U.S. phone records and the other mining Internet data, were revealed last month after leaks from Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor.