Swedes protest new wiretap law
Last Updated: Monday, June 30, 2008 | 3:58 PM ET
The Associated Press
Swedes have bombarded their country's lawmakers with more than one-million e-mails protesting a new eavesdropping law, adding to the growing public outcry over the measure, an official said Monday.
The contentious statute allows officials to eavesdrop on all cross-border e-mail and telephone traffic. The Swedish government plans to implement it in January.
The bill was passed June 18 in a 142-138 vote despite nationwide protests that are still continuing. Critics say the law will encroach on privacy and jeopardize civil liberties. Supporters claim it is needed to fight international crime and terrorism.
Parliamentary spokeswoman Christina Green said protesters had sent 1.1 million e-mails to lawmakers by Monday afternoon, after the Expressen tabloid on Sunday launched an online campaign against the law.
The youth wings of the governing coalition parties oppose the law. The main opposition Social Democratic Party's leader, Mona Sahlin, said she would move to annul it if her party returns to power in the 2010 election.
The lack of support for the legislation is a setback for Sweden's centre-right government, which has seen its popularity decline in recent months.
The legislation gives Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment the right to scan all phone calls, e-mails and faxes crossing Sweden's borders without a court order.
Currently, e-mail and phone surveillance in the Nordic country of 9.1 million, known for openness and transparency, requires a court order if police suspect a crime.
However, the intelligence agency is allowed to spy on airborne signals, such as radio and satellite traffic, without special permission.
The issue might be already moot. A European Commission report in 2001 found that e-mail and internet communication everywhere in the world is vulnerable to online snooping.
The report confirmed the existence of an electronic eavesdropping network called Echelon, which is operated by intelligence services in the U.S., Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The network has the ability to routinely tap phone calls and faxes as well as almost any type of net-based communication, the EU report said.
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