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Privacy activists troll the U.S. government with fake Patriot Act fear-mongering

Beware! The demonic hordes are coming.

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Eric Geller

Tech

Posted on May 28, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 5:48 pm CDT

With major provisions of the surveillance-authorizing USA Patriot Act set to expire at midnight on Monday, anonymous government officials are using the New York Times to fear-monger about the impact expiration could have on national security. Privacy activists who want the provisions to expire, meanwhile, have launched a counteroffensive on Twitter.

#IfThePatriotActExpires appears to be the brainchild of activist Benjamin Marlin, who was the first person to use the hashtag early Thursday morning.

The phrase has since been picked up by civil-liberties groups mocking the government’s desperate push for extended spy powers.

So, what will happen #IfThePatriotActExpires, according to Twitter? Well, in the absence of the three specific provisions that are expiring—Section 215, the “roving wiretap” authority, and the “lone wolf” authority—the United States could face any of the following threats…

Demonic hordes from another dimension

https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/603933472839835649

Monsters beyond our understanding

https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/603933881893560320

Evildoers straight out of Hollywood

https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/603934868200894464

Out-of-control animals

https://twitter.com/JakeLaperruque/status/603941276317306880

Communism

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1776, Part Two

Canada

Radical Islam

Planetary cataclysm

https://twitter.com/SeamusinReilly/status/603935067484921856

Alien invasion

https://twitter.com/leandrotx/status/603932134596829184

As for what will actually happen if the Patriot Act provisions expire—well, it’s probably less than you think.

Photo via Leandro Ucciferri/Twitter

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*First Published: May 28, 2015, 1:18 pm CDT

Eric Geller

Eric Geller is a politics reporter who focuses on cybersecurity, surveillance, encryption, and privacy. A former staff writer at the Daily Dot, Geller joined Politico in June 2016, where he's focused on policymaking at the White House, the Justice Department, the State Department, and the Commerce Department.

Eric Geller