Category: Podcast

In this fifth episode of the Big Brother Watch Podcast, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch and host of this show, talks with Steve Baker MP, a former minister and now an influential backbench MP who sits on the executive of the 1922 Committee.

We had this conversation in a crossroads moment before the parliamentary vote on the renewal of the Coronavirus Act. When the Coronavirus Bill was passed six months ago, Steve Baker MP warned that we were implementing a “dystopian society”. Now six months in, the Coronavirus Act is the biggest expansion of state power in a generation — and could stay in law for years.

Are we going to continue this executive power grab with this disproportionate criminal sanctions and expansive state powers? What’s wrong with the Swedish approach? Should the government force mass vaccinations?

TAKE ACTION ON THE CORONAVIRUS ACT: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/coronavirusact/

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group who work to roll back the surveillance state, defend free speech, and protect rights at a time of huge change.

Our work relies on the generosity of people like you who care about civil liberties in the UK. If you can support us, please do visit https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/donate/ to support this podcast and our work.

We’re sending new supporters our limited edition “2020 is the new 1984” T-shirts, join now to get yours before they run out!

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How is surveillance evolving during the COVID-19 crisis? What are the economic incentives behind it? How stackable are these different sorts of surveillance? Is the pandemic putting the panopticon under our skin?

In this fourth episode of the Big Brother Watch Podcast, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch and host of this show, talks with technology and surveillance experts Evan Selinger, Professor of Philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology and co-author of ‘Re-engineering Humanity’, and Dr. Stephanie Hare, technology, politics and history researcher and broadcaster.

In particular, we talk about how thermal scanners are being used as an additional ingredient in the surveillance machinery and why we ought to be concerned.

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group who work to roll back the surveillance state, defend free speech, and protect rights at a time of huge change.

Our work relies on the generosity of people like you who care about civil liberties in the UK. If you can support us, please do visit https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/donate/ to support this podcast and our work.

We’re sending new supporters our limited edition “2020 is the new 1984” T-shirts, join now to get yours before they run out!

You can also watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1eKQKrwicM

Show notes:

Big Brother Watch’s Emergency Powers & Civil Liberties Report, June 2020: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Emergency-Powers-and-Civil-Liberties-Report-Big-Brother-Watch-June-2020.pdf
Big Brother Watch’s Emergency Powers & Civil Liberties Report, May 2020: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emergency-Powers-and-Civil-Liberties-Report-May-2020-Final.pdf
Digital Freedom Fund on Biosurveillance: https://medium.com/digital-freedom-fund/what-is-biosurveillance-c8bffe70d16f
The Rise of the Biosurveillance State, Jeremy Cliffe: https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2020/03/rise-bio-surveillance-state

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Shami Chakrabarti, the former head of Liberty and Labour peer, joins Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo to discuss the changing landscape for civil liberties and human rights post-Covid-19.

Shami joined Liberty the day before the 9/11 attacks, which changed the civil liberties debate for a generation. In this podcast, Shami and Silkie discuss the lessons from campaigning for rights post-9/11 and the new battle for liberty.

Can we truly reverse states of emergency? How did we become ruled by ministerial decree? Can we stop this becoming a “new normal”? This in-depth discussion explores the Coronavirus Act, the UK’s lockdown, expanding surveillance and the exacerbation of inequality.

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group who work to roll back the surveillance state, defend free speech, and protect rights at a time of huge change.

Our work relies on the generosity of people like you who care about civil liberties in the UK. If you can support us, please do visit https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/donate/ to support this podcast and our work.

Watch the video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_cK9OaB9tw

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Are social media platforms still open public squares, or controlled speech zones censored on the whims of favoured governments? Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch and host of this show, is joined by Matthew Lesh (Adam Smith Institute) and Rachael Jolley (Index on Censorship) to analyse the impact of the pandemic on free speech online.

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group who work to roll back the surveillance state, defend free speech, and protect rights at a time of huge change.

Our work relies on the generosity of people like you who care about civil liberties in the UK. If you can support us, please do visit https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/donate/ to support this podcast and our work.

Watch the video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwVgM_4TItA

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In this first episode of the Big Brother Watch Podcast, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch and host of this show, talks with Kevin Blowe (Netpol) and Eveline Lubbers (co-founder of the Undercover Research Group).

In this conversation we talk about the changes in policing in the UK with the use of the new emergency powers. Is the UK becoming a police state? How will growing civil action be policed as the lockdown is lifted?

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group who work to roll back the surveillance state, defend free speech, and protect rights at a time of huge change.

Our work relies on the generosity of people like you who care about civil liberties in the UK. If you can support us, please do visit bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/donate/ to support this podcast and our work.

Watch the video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr3-2p1MyXw

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS | More