Golden Globe winning director Oliver Stone, at the Zurich Film Festival with his politically charged film Snowden, slammed governments who argue more surveillance is necessary to fight terrorism. “I disagree with security at all cost. It’s a huge waste of resources tapping everyone. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said at a press conference at Zurich’s luxury hotel Baur au Lac.

Stone claims his consciousness went up as a result of this film. “We all want terrorism to stop but at what cost,” he asked. His remarks came a day before Swiss voters had to back a new surveillance law in a national referendum. It passed by 65.5% and will allow the government to use phone tapping and email surveillance to counter terror attacks. Both were previously banned, regardless of circumstance. Stone suggested caution. “Governments keep repeating it: Terror, Terrorism, fear and how they need more laws to catch these people,” he said. “That’s not in evidence. Sometimes it’s shown to be the opposite. The more information they get, the less they see.” He further argued, “They need to get specific targeted information.”

Stone suggested little hope for discussion. “Everyone will vote in the direction of more security which is insanity,” he said. “Don’t forget the Nazis offered the same deal in the early 1930s. When they took power, they said, we need to protect you and in return… well you saw what happened. You think you are going to get more security but I don’t believe it.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt (35) who portrayed Edward Snowden in the film, looked at the Swiss law change from a different angle. “It’s wonderful that it’s being voted on. That’s what didn’t happen in the United States and it should have happened. That’s democracy,” he said. It wasn’t good enough for Stone who ended the press conference with a bleak view of society. “I don’t like lies. When governments do it and they all do it, the bigger the lie, the more dangerous it gets. In the United States we have a lot of lying. Since World War II, we get a false story on each war and it hurts society. Citizens are not informed. We should be informed in a democracy. They don’t tell us anything. It’s all national security. It really gets me pissed off and this is what motivates me.”