'Bulgaria Is Not Big Brother' Protesters Hold Parliament Rally

The national protest ‘Bulgaria is not Big Brother, 2010 is not 1984’ centered its attention on the Bulgaria Parliament and was supported by over 25 political parties and organizations. Photo by BGNES

Over 300 people gathered outside the Bulgaria Parliament Thursday to protest against the center-right GERB government’s proposed changes to the Electronic Communications Act.

The national protest ‘Bulgaria is not Big Brother, 2010 is not 1984’ centered its attention on the Bulgaria Parliament and was supported by over 25 political parties and organizations including the the main opposition parties’ – Bulgarian Socialist Party and the ethnic Turkish DPS party - MPs turned out to support the protesters.

The protest was not cancelled even though the Chair of the Parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee, Atanas Atanasov, confirmed on Tuesday that the government has dispensed with the original interface proposal to monitor internet traffic and mobile phone calls that had caused so much public fury.

Atanasov, speaking at the opening of a debate on the draft changes to the Electronic Communications Act, stated that instead of the interface plan the Interior Ministry will insist on records to be provided by all mobile and internet operators a maximum of 2 hours after a request is made in cases of serious crimes, as part of the amendments.

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