Members of Congress are in for a surprise if they visit one of over 14,200 websites currently protesting the Patriot Act with a redirect to a site covered with semi-nude photos.
According to the activist group organizing the protest, more than 14,200 sites on Friday had blocked access from congressional IP addresses to protest the controversial Patriot Act. (The 2001 law allows the NSA to secretly collect Americans' phone records and user data under the guise of fighting terrorism.) Sites participating in the "blackout" add code which redirects users with congressional IP addresses to blackoutcongress.org.
Semi-nude photos of protesters pepper the site, many with the hashtag #ifeelnaked.
“Congress should be ashamed of NSA mass spying,” the site reads. “We should never, ever have to worry the government is watching our private moments. Congress should be ashamed that they want to see our naked photos so we're putting up plenty of them to make sure they are!”
Online activist group Fight for the Future organized the effort, which arrives several days before the Senate votes whether or not to re-authorize provisions of the Patriot Act or pass the modified USA Freedom Act that would extend the NSA's ability to collect sensitive information about U.S. citizens while somewhat curbing its powers.
"The real answer is to end all authorities used to conduct mass surveillance," the site reads. "Until you do, thousands of web sites have blocked your access, and more are joining every day."
For now, many of those 14,000-plus sites appear to be fringe activism sites but the effort has clearly struck a chord with Internet users. Last year, the group also protested the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a giant free trade deal over 10 years in the making between the U.S., Canada and 10 countries in Asia-Pacific. In that instance, Fight for the Future flew a 30-foot blimp outside a venue where Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who had expressed concerns about the deal, held a series of a meetings.
With the Patriot Act vote on Sunday, politicians face increasing pressure to either let the law expire or at least allow a revote on legislation that would renew but reform the law's sanctioning of surveillance, though it's unclear just how exactly things will pan out.