Government Bullying: What’s Next? [Infographic]

Do you feel that the government has overstepped its boundaries in many instances and crossed into bully territory? There are multiple ways Americans are bullied by their government. Government control over the Internet is one example. The SOPA/PIPA bill would have allowed the government to determine what is seen on the Internet. In Jan. 2011, Aaron Swartz was arrested on allegations of breaching an MIT computer network and illegally downloading 4.8 million articles from the JSTOR archive. If convicted, he faces a possible 35-year prison sentence and a $1 million fine. His trial is slated for Spring 2013.

Homeland security is important, but has the government used it to justify extreme breaches of privacy? As part of Operation “Stellar Wind,” the National Security Agency (NSA) is building a $2 billion data center to crack and store the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, Google searches and miscellaneous phone data. All suspicious communication is automatically recorded, and all further communications from that individual is then recorded.

How do you feel about all this? Do you think the government has stepped into the bully zone? Please share your thoughts in the comments section and check out  the infographic below.