An ACLU NSA Christmas

Just by accident this afternoon I stumbled upon this holiday video by the ACLU, asking people to speak out against the NSA. While I support the general sentiment and goal of the ACLU in raising awareness about domestic (and really global) surveillance by rogue US agencies like the NSA, I think their video actually backfires in its political goal, and here’s why. But first, you should watch the video, since me comments are really about the style and tone of the video in relation to the subject matter.

Ok, so having watched the video, we are left with this playful message of Santa = NSA jovially toying with the public in an almost comical manner–Santa stealing phones or chasing people across midtown NY with a boom mic and dark sunglasses. All funny stuff, right?

The problem is that the NSA surveillance of not only US citizens, but the entire global media ecosystem, is neither a laughing matter not anything you will encounter while roaming the streets. The NSA is the ghost lurking in the shadows just off screen, between the lines of code, and at the endpoint of the data streams. None of this is visible or transparent. All of it is questionably legal at best, and ethically reprehensible without question. So if the ACLU is serious about making a video showing the dangers of NSA spying on US or any citizens, a little more terror and a lot less playfulness would be my suggestions. This is serious business, and media aimed at combating the NSA needs to be equally serious. That’s not to say we can’t use humor as a tool, but it needs to be done cleverly, something the ACLU totally missed in this video.

At least something like this video from JuiceMedia actually is humorous while making important political points. Maybe the ACLU media folks should take a few pointers…

Until next time…remember, father is always watching.

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