Wikipedia will sue the NSA over mass surveillance

The Wikipedia homepage during a 24-hour shutdown
(Image credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

In a lawsuit to be filed Tuesday, the Wikimedia Foundation is challenging the National Security Agency and the Department of Justice of violating the First and Fourth Amendments. The American Civil Liberties Union will represent the foundation, along with eight other organizations filing the lawsuit.

The NSA's "upstream surveillance" program, a mass monitoring of internet traffic that was revealed by Edward Snowden, is "straining the backbone of democracy," Wikipedia Foundation executive director Lila Tretikov said in a blog post. Upstream surveillance allows the NSA to collect data from internet users communicating with "non U.S. persons" about foreign affairs.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.