Does anyone ever worry that doing something like this (supplying your name, email, etc.) will come back to bite you later? Say, in 15 years if the American government by some twist outlaws decent. Does anyone worry that you might be persecuted?
And I'm a tree-hugging, liberal hippie.
That's not to say your name wouldn't end up on a list of people who should be watched for further seditious behavior or something, but I'm pretty sure that kind of thing already happens, and has been for a very long time, anyway.
You could probably start with the MySpace bullying case. Add in some Wall Street bankers for good measure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Co...
Further, retroactive punishment (in the form of harassment, being put on watch lists or no-fly lists, etc.) can still occur even in the absence of any specific ex post facto law.
Finally, with the retroactive extensions granted to copyright holders, the potential for this has already happened -- publishers have released new editions out-of-copyright works, only to find those works later placed back under copyright protection.
I would only worry if I planned to run for public office, and didn't plan to stand by my current beliefs.
Organizing an effort like this, yes. But mostly because it shows that you are an activist and can make things happen when you don't like the status quo. And I think the benefits of developing that reputation outweigh the drawbacks.
1: Any time I go through a border I have the expectation that an immigration officer (from any country) has access to my online activity. This could be a quick google search, but more likely I've been run through an automatic system to detect any red flags prior to arrival. A future government may see your actions now as 'unpatriotic'.
2: When we are not in our native countries (and even then) our rights are essentially 100% in the hands of the immigration officers whilst at a border. Read those immigration cards sometime.
3: In any country a Law Enforcement Officer can google you and can also use a 3rd party summary service to find out about you. So you you get arrested then anything you have online is available to be used as evidence against you.
4: When the rule of law applies, and decent people are enforcing the law, then none of this matters if you behave in a legal manner, even if you are fully exercising your right to free speech. However LEOs like the rest of us are human and have bias. So expect the worst at times. As we have seen recently a few bad actors can bring an entire force, state or even country into disrepute.
5: We should have the expectation that anything put into a computer, certainly written online or even said in a call can and probably is being captured. It's one of trillions of data points and ignored, but if you ever become famous, infamous or under suspicion then the data is there.
To be fair, its a few bad actors, a policy of denying the existence of bad actors, and near-total complicity through inaction by the "good" actors.