Stop Intimidating Journalists and Their Families We're witnessing one of the most serious attacks on free speech we've ever seen ... and we've seen a lot. British intelligence officials recently stormed the London headquarters of the Guardian, the newspaper that broke the story about the NSA surveillance programs, and oversaw the destruction of journalists' computers and hard drives. And on Sunday , David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was detained for nine hours at London's Heathrow Airport, where authorities confiscated his laptop and cellphone -- and forced him to reveal their passwords. These are not just overly aggressive police actions. They're political moves designed to bully journalists and silence dissent. And the same thing is happening here in the U.S., where the Justice Department seized the phone records of Associated Press journalists -- and is threatening to send a New York Times reporter to jail if he doesn't disclose the source of a leak. This must end now. Tell U.S. and U.K. Leaders: Stop Treating Journalists and Their Families Like Criminals. We're already seeing how these government scare tactics are chilling free speech. That's why Free Press has joined with Roots Action in a campaign to end the intimidation of journalists. And it's not just journalists who are feeling the heat. In the U.S., several email providers have closed their doors rather than comply with government requests for user data. A decade-old tech blog did the same to protect its contributors' privacy. We can't let this self-censorship continue. Speak Up for Those Who Are Being Silenced. Today, the NSA is watching what we say. Tomorrow , we may be too afraid to speak up at all. Raise your voice and tell U.S. and U.K. leaders to stop the harassment. |
Best,
Craig, Josh, Jen and the rest of the Free Press team
www.freepress.net
P.S. Free Press fights every day to protect your rights to connect and communicate.
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