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GUEST: Nathan Thompson, is a researcher with the Igarapé Institute, a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank specializing in security and development issues.

Mass protests shook Brazil in mid-January, leading up to the coming Olympics. They center on the hikes to public transportation fares. Echoing similar protests in 2013, they have rocked cities like Sao Paulo, and also prompted repressive responses from government security forces.

But it’s not just in the streets that repression is rising. The government has also been upping its ability to spy on ordinary Brazilians. Writing in the New York Times, my guest Nathan Thompson explains how Brazil’s government has clashed with private social media companies over the personal information of its users.

Brazil is the largest Latin American country, and the world’s fifth largest nation. When the revelations of the US government’s spying on world leaders, including President Dilma Rouseff came to light, Brazil’s principled response was globally lauded – which is why a new surveillance bill has privacy advocates worried.

Read Nathan Thompson’s New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/brazils-digital-backlash.html?_r=0.

Read his article on Open Democracy here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/nathan-bthompson/brazils-digital-protests-spell-trouble-on-street.