Surveillance expansion threatens press freedom – and everyone else's
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Mass surveillance is widespread. Congress must rein in government spying powers.
In 2013, whistleblower and longtime Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) board member Edward Snowden’s stunning revelations of mass surveillance by the National Security Agency shocked the world. Since then, we’ve learned even more about the alarming scope of surveillance by the U.S. government.
Mass surveillance undermines everyone’s privacy, and it threatens press freedom by allowing the government to spy on communications between journalists and their sources.
Take Action
Tell Congress to Fix Section 702 of FISA.
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Call or Email Your Senator or Representative
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Call or email your senator or representative and urge them to fix Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. A recent change to the law has vastly expanded the government’s spying powers.
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Write to Your Local Paper
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Help advance press freedom by writing newspaper op-eds or letters to the editor in support of fixing Section 702 of FISA.
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Featured Items
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Why It's Vital For Users to Fund Open-Source Encryption Tools
We’ve been crowd-funding donations for several open-source encryption tools for two months now. We've discussed before why these tools are so important from a press freedom perspective, but we’ve also repeatedly heard one question from readers who have come across the campaign for the first time: “why should I …
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Will the US State Department Condemn the UK Government For Using Terrorism Laws to Suppress Journalism?
In a disturbing ruling for democracy, a lower court in United Kingdom announced today that the detainment of journalist Glenn Greenwald’s partner David Miranda was lawful under the Terrorism Act, despite the fact that the UK government knew Miranda never was a terrorist. This disgraceful opinion equates acts of journalism …
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Highlights from John Cusack's Reddit 'Ask Me Anything'
Our board member John Cusack held an expansive Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) yesterday and took a variety of questions on freedom of the press, the Obama administration, acting, directing, and activism. Here are some of the highlights that touched on issues he is involved with at Freedom of the …
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By Targeting WikiLeaks and Its Readers, NSA and GCHQ Have Directly Attacked Press Freedom
New Snowden documents published by The Intercept show the NSA and GCHQ targeted the media organization WikiLeaks with a variety of surveillance tactics, and even spied on its readers. This is a shocking attack on the freedom of the press, and anyone who supports the principles behind the First Amendment …
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United States Plummets in Global Press Freedom Rankings
According to a new report from Reporters Without Borders, there was a profound erosion of press freedom in the United States in 2013. After a year of attacks on whistleblowers and digital journalists and revelations about mass surveillance, the United States plunged 13 spots in the group’s global press …
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Here's How You Can Join Us in Calling For NSA Reform in Congress
Today, Freedom of the Press Foundation is proud to join organizations worldwide in opposing mass, suspicionless surveillance. We’re at a turning point in the fight for surveillance reform. Thanks to surveillance revelations, we now know that the NSA—in partnership with intelligence agencies around the world—is sweeping up vast quantities of …
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Greenwald and Poitras Launch 'The Intercept,' Putting Press Freedom and Digital Security First
Journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill launched the premiere digital magazine of First Look Media today, called The Intercept, which will initially focus on NSA stories based on documents provided by Edward Snowden. In their introductory message, the trio wrote, “a primary function of The Intercept …
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NSA Refuses to Confirm or Deny Whether It Has Documents on Spy Program It Already Talked About
I’m getting a kick out of the letters the National Security Agency (NSA) has been sending me in response to my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.A couple of weeks ago, the NSA refused to release 156 pages of draft talking points the agency created in the wake of …
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Mike Rogers' Comments Are Latest in Disturbing Pattern of Intelligence Officials Attacking the First Amendment
House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) accused a group of journalists of committing a crime yesterday, falsely stating at a committee hearing that NSA reporters are “selling” the leaked Snowden documents and are breaking the law. Mike Rogers indicated in an interview afterwards that he was referring to …
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This Method is So Constitutional, the DEA Won't Even Release Its Name
Training documents released to MuckRock user C.J. Ciaramella by the Drug Enforcement Administration provide unprecedented details on the tactic known as “parallel construction,” by which agents reverse engineer evidence to hide surveillance programs from defense teams, prosecutors and a public wary of domestic intelligence practices. But the DEA redacted all …
