The Yes Men and Edward Snowden are warning against digital surveillance at Roskilde Festival

27. June 2016

The disputed signs about data policy at the festival site were set up by the activist art group The Yes Men. The Yes Men have worked together with Edward Snowden on the project with the intention of increasing knowledge about – and consequences of – digital surveillance. Tuesday 28 June The Yes Men will interview Edward Snowden live at the festival.

The guests at Roskilde Festival are very much against digital surveillance. They have made that very clear after social media have revealed the anger, wonder and despair related to the signs at the festival site saying that the festival will collect, store and pass on data from the festival-goers whenever they text and talk on the phone.

But the message on the signs is untrue: it’s all part of an art project thought up by the satirical activist and art group The Yes Men in collaboration with Edward Snowden. The project has been carried out with permission by the festival.

Focus on digital surveillance
The Yes Men are famous for raising issues like climate-change through the use of false identities and messages. At this year’s Roskilde Festival they have put emphasis on digital surveillance as a topic they want discussed on a much broader scale. The signs were put up in selected parts of the camping area when the festival opened last Saturday. This afternoon the project was revealed by The Yes Men and Roskilde Festival at a debate session where an actor dressed as Edward Snowden was also present.

Roskilde Festival’s spokeswoman Christina Bilde says:

“The signs are part of an activist performance carried out by The Yes Men and Edward Snowden, and the messages on the signs are untrue. We have a special focus on human rights this year – including the right to privacy and the way that right is being challenged, not least by digital surveillance. That is the motive and background behind the cooperation with The Yes Men and Edward Snowden. We chose to take part in it actively in this rather provocative way to make the festival-goers take an active stance.

“We are aware that we have taken the debate and the trust of our guests and the media to the limit. This was a risk we were willing to take. Many have felt despair or anger, and to be honest it has been tough following the comments on social media. But the project has played out exactly the way The Yes Men and Edward Snowden had planned. It has been very uplifting to see the festival-goers actively taking a stance and reacting strongly against the signs. It would in many ways have been worse if they didn’t react as digital surveillance has – in so many ways – become a part of our everyday lives.

“This makes it all the more important that we are all aware of it, are ready to debate it and question it. And I’m certain that everyone attending the talk between Edward Snowden and The Yes Men on the festival site will get an even better understanding of the issue.”

Even though the signs have now been revealed as forgery, The Yes Men are not done at this year’s Roskilde Festival. On Tuesday 28 June at 4:15pm CET they will be interviewing Edward Snowden live via satellite from his exile in Moscow. It will take place in Rising City in the western part of the camping area. The whole process has been documented by The Yes Men and will be released as a film, to be distributed shortly after the festival.

Stand Up for Your Rights
The Yes Men’s project with Edward Snowden is part of Roskilde Festival’s focus on equality and human rights, this year under the headline ‘Stand Up for Your Rights’. Every year, Roskilde Festival will pay special attention to an issue deserving of particular attention. In 2016, it’s equality and human rights, effectively making the festival much more than music and community – focusing on issues like digital surveillance, the right to privacy, freedom of speech, gender equality and not least the refugee discourse.

Read more about the activities and the focus on equality here:
www.roskilde-festival.dk/more/press/in-english/press-material-2016

Facts:

The signs created by The Yes Men said: Roskilde 2016 Data Policy: We reserve the right to collect and indefinitely store all text and phone conversations (received or sent) while on festival grounds. While on festival grounds, all internet activity will be monitored. We reserve the right to share this data with our partners.