Throwing Support Behind Apple, National Protests Declare 'Don't Break Our Phones'

What the FBI is demanding here will make all of us less safe, not more safe," said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, which organized the rallies. (Photo: Art L/Flickr/cc.)

Throwing Support Behind Apple, National Protests Declare 'Don't Break Our Phones'

Rallies to be held at Apple stores nationwide in support of the company's defense of privacy

Rallies will take place at Apple stores nationwide at 5:30pm local time on Tuesday to support the company in its staunch defense of privacy rights. The tech giant is currently embroiled in a civil liberties battle with the U.S. government, which has asked the company to create a "master key" that would allow it to break into any iPhone.

As Common Dreams previously reported, Apple has refused to create such a key and characterized the request as "a dangerous precedent."

Support for Apple has continued to grow as new reports on Tuesday revealed that the Department of Justice is interested in breaking into multiple iPhones, and not just the one initially cited by the FBI.

The protests have been organized by Fight for the Future, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support freedom of expression on the internet, in cooperation with other civil liberties groups.

Rallies are planned in nearly 50 stores around the country. The largest rallies are planned in San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., the group tweeted.

"People are rallying at Apple stores because what the FBI is demanding here will make all of us less safe, not more safe," Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, said in a press release. "Their unconstitutional attack on our digital security could put millions of people in danger, so we're giving those people a way to get their voices heard."

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