Snowden, Pussy Riot Team Up With AdBlock to Fight Cyber Censorship 

Saturday is the ninth annual World Day Against Cyber Censorship and, with ever increasing attention paid to NSA phone hacks and international crackdowns on public speech, organizers are upping their game. Prominent activists and AdBlock joined forces to promote a vision of a free and open internet. Russian punk rock activist group Pussy Riot, outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and cybersecurity whistleblower Edward Snowden are all uniting to push their message through AdBlock.

Typically, AdBlock washes capitalism’s fingerprints off Facebook pages, and YouTube ads. But, on Saturday, some-50 million users can replace those ads with messages from activists who have been silenced by their governments. Users can then view content from not only these prominent activists, but also the work of ordinary people whom “governments have tried to silence.”

Amnesty International revealed some of the messages ahead of the official day:

“Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched and recorded.” — Edward Snowden.

“Without freedom of speech there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.” — Ai Weiwei.

“Authorities don’t just use handcuffs and arrests, but also media attacks.” — Pussy Riot.

“When your right to digital privacy is threatened, so is your right to free expression.” — Gabriel Cubbage, CEO of AdBlock.

Started by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International in 2008, World Day Against Cyber Security is recognized on March 12 to rally support against government censorship for an unrestricted Internet.

The U.S. ranks 49 out of 180 on the 2015 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders. Pussy Riot and Ai WeiWei face greater challenges at home, in Russia, ranking 152, and China, at 176.