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.
Featured Items
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POGO Launches SecureDrop Amidst Subpoena Controversy Over VA Whistleblower Records
Today, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), the respected DC-based government watchdog organization, launched its own version of SecureDrop, our open-source whistleblower submission system. This installation takes on a special and urgent significance, as POGO has recently been subpoenaed for information on whistleblowers that have contacted them about the …
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You Can Strengthen Anonymity, Privacy and Free Speech on the Internet by Running a Tor Relay
We're partnering with EFF, Tor Project, and Free Software Foundation on the Tor Challenge, a clarion call for people all over the world to support the Tor anonymity network in the most crucial way possible: by running relays. Relays are the fundamental building blocks of Tor; they …
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Freedom of Information Act Rundown: Stingray Surveillance and FERPA abuse
This post is adapted from CJ Ciaramella's weekly FOIA newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. STINGRAYS Last week I mentioned a new, crowd-funded project by MuckRock to collect nationwide data on law enforcement surveillance of cell phones, particularly the use of "stingray" tracking technology. The stingray tech …
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Supreme Court Rejects Reporter's Privilege Case, As NYT Reporter Faces Jail for Protecting His Source
The Supreme Court today rejected New York Times reporter James Risen's appeal of a 4th Circuit decision that ruled the government can compel him to reveal his source under oath. The case, one of the most important for reporter's privilege in decades, means that Risen has exhausted his appeals and …
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Prioritizing Personalities Over a Free Press
One of the most fascinating aspects of Glenn Greenwald’s journalism is the way it provokes various people who think of themselves as journalists to reveal their actual priorities. I wrote about this at length last week in a response to Michael Kinsley’s non-review review of Greenwald’s new book, No Place …
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Motive, Means, and Opportunity: Why NSA Secrecy Should Worry Us All
Even if you haven’t studied criminal law, you’ll immediately understand the concept of motive, means, and opportunity. Motive is you wanted to kill the victim. Means is you were holding a loaded gun. Opportunity is the victim was standing right in front of you. Without all three, you can’t have …
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The Lie About Edward Snowden That Just Won't Die
We’ve fact-checked statements in the media about Edward Snowden and the NSA before, but by far the biggest falsehood being spread by government advocates is the alleged fact that he took 1.7 million documents from the NSA. All the parties involved—Snowden, the journalists, and even the government—either deny it or …
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Fact-Checking Hillary Clinton's Comments About Edward Snowden and the NSA
Hillary Clinton made her first extended public remarks about Edward Snowden late last week, and unfortunately she misstated some basic facts about the NSA whistleblower and how events have played out in the last year. Here’s a breakdown of what she said and where she went wrong: Clinton: "If he …
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State Dept Launches 'Free the Press' Campaign While DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Force Reporter James Risen Into Jail
The US State Department announced the launch of its third annual "Free the Press" campaign today, which will purportedly highlight "journalists or media outlets that are censored, attacked, threatened, or otherwise oppressed because of their reporting." A noble mission for sure. But maybe they should kick off the campaign by …
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A Vindication for the Public: The Guardian and Washington Post Win the Pulitzer Prize
I am grateful to the committee for their recognition of the efforts of those involved in the last year's reporting, and join others around the world in congratulating Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman, Ewen MacAskill, and all of the others at the Guardian and Washington Post on winning the …
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