The NSA Just Got Sued by a Whole Bunch of Groups

The NSA and the Justice Department made an impressive and diverse list of enemies this morning, via a lawsuit filed over its spying. Not surprisingly filing the suit: the ACLU. But as Reuters reports, it filed Wikimedia v. NSA on behalf of: Amnesty International, the Global Fund for Women, Human Rights Watch, the Nation, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, PEN American Center, the Rutherford Institute, the Washington Office on Latin America, and, oh yes, the eponymous Wikimedia Foundation. At issue are what the plaintiffs say are First and Fourth Amendment violations related to the NSA's domestic spying—"specifically its large-scale search and seizure of internet communications—frequently referred to as 'upstream' surveillance," per a Wikimedia blog post.

"This kind of dragnet surveillance constitutes a massive invasion of privacy, and it undermines the freedoms of expression and inquiry as well," says an ACLU lawyer, while a Wikimedia rep charges in the blog post that "by tapping the backbone of the Internet, the NSA is straining the backbone of democracy." The NSA and DoJ had no comment, reports Reuters, adding that the ACLU has previously sued the NSA, but the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge. (More NSA stories.)