Czech PM meets with party leaders over military’s increased Internet surveillance plans

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka will meet with leaders of other parliamentary parties on Tuesday to hear their opinions on a proposed new law giving the military more powers to police the Internet. The increased powers have been justified on the need to boost cyber security. But they have sparked fears from NGOs and Internet companies that human rights and liberties will be undermined. The group Iuridicum Remedium warned Monday that the proposed changes appeared to be a tool for increased collection of information. Practically, the result would probably backfire with Internet security worsened, it added. The proposal is in its second reading before the lower house of parliament. The head of military intelligence, Jan Beroun, said Monday that it would only monitor the net’s operation and that a permit from a judge would still be needed to look at the contents on pages.