Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

Top Menu

  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
  • Islamic Culture
  • Da’wah
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

logo

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
    • America is the New Sick Man

      January 7, 2021
      0
    • Islam, Covid, Vaccination & Khilafah

      January 4, 2021
      0
    • Erdogan - Palestine Was Never a Red Line for You

      December 30, 2020
      0
    • The New European Inquisition

      December 8, 2020
      0
    • The Struggles of Living in France

      November 6, 2020
      0
    • Government Refuses to Provide Free Meals to Children

      October 28, 2020
      0
    • Palestine: The Betrayal of the Rulers

      October 5, 2020
      0
    • 10 Significant Facts About Palestine

      September 18, 2020
      0
    • The Khilafah Will Effectively Provide Security for Our Mothers and Daughters, When ...

      September 14, 2020
      0
  • Islamic Culture
    • The Dawah to Allah (swt)

      December 29, 2020
      0
    • Miracle of the Quran

      Q & A - Compilation of The Holy Quran During the Reign ...

      December 27, 2020
      0
    • Imam Bukhari: A Role Model for the ‘Ulema and Da’wah Carriers to ...

      November 17, 2020
      0
    • Rabi ul-Awwal’s Greatest Gift: The Mercy to All Humankind, Muhammad ﷺ

      October 25, 2020
      0
    • The Life of Bilal (RA)

      September 3, 2020
      0
    • The Greatness of the 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah

      July 25, 2020
      0
    • Surah Tawbah: Masjid Ad-Dirar and the Disease of Disunity

      May 22, 2020
      0
    • Taqwa and the Digital Footprint

      May 16, 2020
      0
    • Spirituality- Man’s Emotional Quest to Find God

      November 28, 2019
      0
  • Da’wah
    • Video: Establishing Islam’s Leadership on the Earth and Our Responsibility

      October 27, 2020
      0
    • Establishing Islam’s Leadership on the Earth and Our Responsibility

      October 27, 2020
      0
    • Islam is based on an Enlightened Thought and We Should Accept Nothing ...

      October 26, 2020
      0
    • Video : The Return of the Islamic World Order - Invitation to ...

      October 25, 2020
      0
    • Video : The Islamic Ruling System

      October 22, 2020
      0
    • The Khilafah System: Taking Care of the People

      October 19, 2020
      0
    • Secularism Has Failed Where Islam Will Succeed

      October 18, 2020
      0
    • Video : From Pandemic to BLM - Invitation to - Jaleel Abdul-Adil ...

      October 16, 2020
      0
    • From Pandemic to BLM: Humanity Desperately Seeking an Alternative

      October 12, 2020
      0
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
Viewpoint
Home›Viewpoint›PRISM: State surveillance of dissenting communities

PRISM: State surveillance of dissenting communities

By Editor
June 14, 2013
1167
0
Share:

That such a programme exists is not surprising; just ask the Muslims

“I had an authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge or even the President, if I had a personal email.

“You don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to have eventually fall under suspicion … and then they can use this system to go back in time and … derive suspicion from an innocent life”

This is a quote from Edward Snowden, the former contractor turned whistleblower, exposing PRISM, a secret surveillance programme conducted by America’s National Security Agency.

That such a programme exists is not surprising, but the allegation that anyone is fair game for surveillance has been alarming – so much so the Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, made a statement in the House of Commons reassuring the British public about the workings of GCHQ, Britain’s spy agency, and America’s NSA.

The US Patriot Act gave state agencies cart blanch to spy on terrorist suspects – read Muslims – because after 9/11 being Muslim was suspicion enough. But many thought that that’s where it stopped. From the admission of Mr Snowden, who was at the coal face of the snooping, it appears Muslims were just the thin edge of the wedge.

Portrayed as an existential treat to the American way of life, the unjust targeting of a whole world-wide community was thought justified, and so even among Muslims, few raised concerns.

PRISM is spying on an industrial scale. It involves trolling millions of emails and the personal content of social media.

For a secret intelligence agency spying on the opinions and views of people will enable the profiling of dissenting communities; their demographic, social and cultural characteristics. Characterisations such as Islamists, extremists, conservative or traditionalists will lump the millions of records of people together based on their views, thoughts and ideas. Communities falling within these labels will then be targeted for surveillance.

Surveillance on this scale is aimed less at targeting the individual [because that would be ineffective in trying to find a needle in a haystack] and more at profiling and targeting communities.

Thus for William Hague to argue law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from GCHQ is completely disingenuous. An individual and his or her guilt is fundamentally not at stake here but the wholesale criminalisation of communities.

Indeed, this is exactly how the Muslim community has been dealt with since 9/11. Labels such as extremists and Islamists are thrown about not based on any individual alleged guilt but general opinions which are then used to incriminate people. Governments have enacted laws lowering the burden of proof for people caught up in even “potential wrongdoing” implying that being Muslim is itself grounds for criminalisation in such activity. The judicial system has worked in tandem with governments and secret agencies to heavily convict such individuals to set an example to the rest of that community.

To the ordinary person this mattered much less when this system [as described by Edwards Snowden] of surveillance was just aimed at Muslims – after all some argued there’s no smoke without fire.

But now that it is clear that this type of surveillance is business as normal in the intelligence services and any and all types of dissention – from anti-war movements to local groups opposed to the closure of the city hospital – are subject to profiling and targeting, the public silence against state injustice towards a minority is today coming to haunt the majority.

 

Previous Article

Meat Sent In Post To Maidenhead Mosque

Next Article

Hizb ut-Tahrir urges Muslims not to compromise ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Viewpoint

    Planned U.S. burning of Quran al Kareem: When ‘Freedom of Expression’ becomes ‘Freedom to Persecute and Abuse’

    September 9, 2010
    By Editor
  • Viewpoint

    Pakistan rolls out the red carpet for the British Raj

    October 16, 2019
    By Editor
  • Viewpoint

    The EU Referendum reveals identity fault lines within Britain and beyond

    February 29, 2016
    By Abdul Wahid
  • Viewpoint

    Q&A: The On-Going Libya Crisis

    April 25, 2011
    By Editor
  • Viewpoint

    When I met Salman Rushdie…

    February 14, 2019
    By Editor
  • Viewpoint

    Video: Osman Bakhach Discusses Tunisia Revolution

    January 19, 2011
    By Editor

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Podcast

Latest Posts

Viewpoint

America is the New Sick Man

The scenes of mobs occupying the US senate and protestors demanding the US electoral result be overturned are extraordinary in America’s history. Many across the world watched in shock as ...
  • Islam, Covid, Vaccination & Khilafah

    By Editor
    January 4, 2021
  • Erdogan – Palestine Was Never a Red Line for You

    By Editor
    December 30, 2020
  • The Dawah to Allah (swt)

    By Editor
    December 29, 2020
  • Miracle of the Quran

    Q & A – Compilation of The Holy Quran During the Reign of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (r.a)

    By Editor
    December 27, 2020
  • The New European Inquisition

    By Editor
    December 8, 2020
  • The Repercussions of the US Presidential Election

    By Editor
    November 25, 2020
  • Imam Bukhari: A Role Model for the ‘Ulema and Da’wah Carriers to Follow

    By Editor
    November 17, 2020
  • 3.5K+
    Subscribers
  • Likes
  • 20.4K+
    Followers
  • Press Centre