“All of us know someone who has been charged with or convicted of a crime. Most of us don’t think this connection could cost us our employment but in the terrifying surveillance state we live in, you don’t have to commit a crime to be criminalized. You don’t even have to interact directly with people for their criminal records to be used to tarnish you. The government can accuse you of associating with a criminal, but not name him. Perhaps most shockingly, the government can suggest you are hanging out with a disreputable person, even as it uses the testimony of that apparently shady person against you. This is the consequence of racial profiling, carding, and draconian new laws like Bill C-51.”
The sad case of Ayaan Farah demonstrates that, in the terrifying surveillance state we live in, you don’t have to commit a crime to be criminalized
Source: In the security state, you’re innocent until investigated: Cole | Toronto Star