Artist Graffitis Landing Point of NZ's Undersea Internet Cable in Spy Agency Protest

In a guerilla art strike in Auckland this morning, an artist dubbed "Unknown" has graffitied the Takapuna Beach landing point of New Zealand's only undersea internet cable (see attached image).

The guerilla artwork is in protest of the growing mass surveillance conducted by international spy agencies, revealed by Edward Snowden, and the passing of New Zealand's new GCSB Amendment Bill.

The graffiti banner, painted in traditional Kiwi black and white, is wrapped around the telephone pole that marks the landing point of the Southern Cross Cable. This fibre optic cable links New Zealand directly to the United States and Australia, two of New Zealand's so-called "Five Eyes" spy agency partners.

The painted banner reads, "Five Eyes Network. Surveillance Outpost" – referring to New Zealand as an surveillance outpost of the United States, and the internet cable as an instrument of digital surveillance. The guerilla artwork also shows a United States government eagle emblem and a New Zealand tui connected together by five staring eyes.

According to a classified document released by Wikileaks in 2010, the Southern Cross undersea cable landing point has been labelled critical infrastructure and a key resource by the United States Government.

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