Complaints from the general public about the government's secret surveillance of its citizens were widespread, and it wasn't just the average Joe that got angry about the NSA's actions. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote a harshly-worded post on the subject criticizing the government's actions and telling the public that he called President Obama to express his concerns and complaints.
The NSA breached its responsibility to the people, Zuckerberg stated, and he has been "so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government," and says, "When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government."
Companies like Facebook have worked alongside individuals to make the internet a secure and open platform, and that such survellaince actions go against that. Zuckerberg stated that without transparency from the government, people will "assume the worst". He has reason to feel particularly involved following reports that the NSA set up fake servers to look like Facebook while they harvested personal information, though the government denied these reports (unsurprisingly).
The Facebook creator doesn't mention a singular incident such as this in his post, but does not mince words on how he feels about the situation. He wrote, "The internet is our shared space. It helps us connect. It spreads opportunity. It enables us to learn. It gives us a voice. It makes us stronger and safer together...The US government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat."
He also explains that he spoke to the President about his complaints. "I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform."
It's good to see a powerful figure from the private sector stand up for our rights, and Zuckerberg calls on the public to make the internet better if the government won't, finishing the post with the following:
"So it's up to us --all of us-- to build the internet we want. Together, we can build a space that is greater and a more important part of the world than anything we have today, but is also safe and secure. I'm committed to seeing this happen, and you can count on Facebook to do our part."
