Dominant Culture: Pro-Surveillance

New trends in gun sales, according to The Guardian, show that American people are becoming more scared of the ongoing threats facing the country involving terrorism. People are reacting to what they see happening around the world and want to defend themselves. If government surveillance can prevent mass killings in the US, many people are going to sacrifice their own online privacy.

Why Does Internet Surveillance Exist?

The goal of the NSA's surveillance program is to stop terrorist attacks before they happen. They can monitor internet communications of potential terrorists and therefore keep track of them.

Most Americans recognize terrorism as a major concern and want more anti-terrorism policies

"If the critics don’t think the NSA should be collecting this information, perhaps they would like to explain just how they would have us stop new terrorist attacks"

-Marc A. Thiessen, The Washington Post

In The Media

"We did a LexisNexis search of four of the largest US newspapers by circulation: The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post ...in all four newspapers, key words generally used to justify increased surveillance, such as security or terrorism, were used much more frequently than terms that tend to invoke opposition to mass surveillance"

-Albert Wong & Valerie Belair Gagnon, Columbia Journalism Review

The media seems to bias for the pro-surveillance argument, therefore siding with the government acts aiming to prevent terrorism. The pro-surveillance activists have major news sources on their side.