The “Freedom instead of Fear (FST) took place on the 10th of October, 2015, in Munich. acTVism Munich interviewed one of the demonstrators, Franz Haslbeck who his experience and opinion on this demonstration. Due to limitied capacities, acTVism translated only bits and pieces of the voll full German interview.
Franz Haslbeck is a local activist and is active in various fronts: From supporting peace & justice movements in Munich such as Occupeace München and Echte Demokratie jetzt to advocating for human rights in StopWatching.Us.
Interview: Franz Haslbeck
acTVism: Thank you for joining us today Franz. What motivated you personally to take part in this demonstration?
Franz Haslbeck: This issue is extremely important and requires a sense of urgency. Besides that I knew many of the organizers and speakers. These reasons inspired me to take part in this initiative.
acTVism: How would you summarize your experience in this demonstration?
Franz Haslbeck: First of all I was delighted by the diversity in participation which included a wide range of parties from the political spectrum in Germany. This diversity was also found in demonstrators. The line-up of this demonstration was quite impressive in terms of expertise.
What disturbed me the most was that all the speakers were talking about mass-surveillance and data collection as if it had just begun and that the surveillance state was still in its early stages. The fact is that we are already living in a surveillance state. This didn’t begin with Snowden’s revelations – the infrastructure, technology and surveillance network has been in place since decades which operates around the clock which intercepts:
– Communication and data exchange
– The transport activities of the person: Air, Sea or land
– The monetary transactions of people – hence there is talk about banning cash transactions.
This issue is not only about surveillance or the internet, instead it deals concretely with limiting fundamental human rights that lead to eventual totalitarianism. We are miles and miles away from the freedom & democratic statues which our basic constitution promises to guarantee.
acTVism: Thank you for your time Franz!
Franz Haslbeck: You are welcome!
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