Journalism is not a crime: why I like Snowden even more now.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/edward-snowdens-ted-talk-cyborgs/

So a TED talk hosted in Vancouver featuring Edward Snowden talking through a robot from an undisclosed location and interviewed by Chris Anderson, the curator of TED, succeeded in distracting me from my homework.

I was excited by the opportunity to see him speak, and I recommend everyone watch the 35 minute talk linked here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/edward_snowden_here_s_how_we_take_back_the_internet#t-1904978

In a nutshell, Snowden was talking about the programs the NSA has been using to monitor American citizens and why they are unconstitutional. He spoke about the problems with the concept of secret surveillance initiatives being reviewed by a secret court that has no one monitoring it because it is secret. I make no pretenses of being unbiased here.

Snowden also spoke about one of my favorite topics (favorite because it’s a serious problem and I care about it deeply), the criminalization of journalism and death of the free press.

“Journalism is not a crime, communication is not a crime, and we should not be monitored in our everyday activities,” Snowden said towards the end of the talk.

Truly, the public should be able to monitor the actions of the government without fear of being charged with treason or without the government hiding their actions to make them nearly impossible to monitor.

I’ve heard a lot of arguments that Snowden is being celebratized (not a word, I made it up), and that he has secret initiatives to do what he is doing besides helping the American people. I have high doubts for this allegation.

Snowden’s statement when asked how he was coping with fear in his precarious situation clarified to me what his aims are.

“The fact that [the government is] willing to completely ignore due process, the fact that they’re willing to declare guilt without ever seeing a trial; these are things we need to work against as a society and say, hey, this is not appropriate. We shouldn’t be threatening dissidents. We shouldn’t be criticizing journalism. What whatever part I can play to see that end, I’m happy to do despite the risks,” said Snowden.

I like him, and I think we really need to pay attention to this issue until it is resolved in a way that eradicates the unconstitutionality of the NSA, secures freedom of speech and privacy through electronic communication, and obliterates the FISA court for the sham it is.

Surprise! Or not. Why we as a people should have known what Snowden revealed.

When I first saw a headline about a man named Snowden revealing classified NSA information about surveillance, I was concerned and intrigued. When I found out what the information was that had been revealed, the NSA is data mining on a massive scale, I realized that this is information I was aware of before the big news break… so nothing new.

From reading most of The Guardian articles regarding the NSA, I have compiled a list of information revealed by Snowden:

1.      Metadata collection (Verizon, other major online companies)

2.      Prism (data-mining program) Email and Chat

3.      Boundless Informant Indexing Program

4.      UK involvement in information collection

5.      Foreign and domestic espionage

So, we didn't know about the names of Prism and Boundless Informant, and we didn't have any direct proof that the United States was freely exercising its technological abilities to invade privacy, but we did know that it was possible, probably happening on a large scale, and technically legal. Why?

According to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978, amended 2008): “(1) AUTHORITY—With respect to an acquisition authorized under subsection (a), the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence may direct, in writing, an electronic communication service provider to—

Immediately provide the Government with all information, facilities, or assistance necessary to accomplish the acquisition in a manner that will protect the secrecy of the acquisition and produce a minimum of interference with the services that such electronic communication services that such electronic communication service provider is providing to the target of the acquisition.”

 Also- The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978, amended 2008) states:

“(d) EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION.—(1) AUTHORITY FOR EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, if the Attorney General reasonably determines that—

(A)                                     An emergency situation exists with respect to the acquisition of foreign intelligence information for which an order may be obtained under subsection (c) before an order authorizing such acquisition can with due diligence be obtained […]” 

I read FISA for a debate in my Senior Seminar class regarding civil liberties in relation to the war on terror. It’s all right there. I salute Snowden because before he came out with all of this information on what the United States Government was doing, we as a people were not asking nearly enough questions about what sort of power our government was amassing.

Now, how does the US government get away with what it has been doing with minimum policing? Because the FISA court is the only court that reviews the legality of the United States’ actions regarding electronic surveillance, and it can be surpassed in an “emergency” as proven above. I remember from reading FISA that there were very few definitions as to what defined an “emergency” or in what situations our government may or may not request consumer information from an electronic service provider.  

"The Americans justify everything with combatting terrorism," said the Luxembourg foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, who on Sunday described the latest allegations as disgusting. "The EU and its diplomats are not terrorists." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/01/nsa-spying-allegations-germany-us-france

Combating terrorism does not justify our increased infringement upon the privacy of others, ourselves and foreign countries included. More guidelines should be put in place to protect the privacy rights of the world, as well as to prevent any international and public relations nightmares such as this.

This is our fault too, everyday citizens of America. We’re the true watchdogs of our government. I think we all, myself included, need to do a better job checking up on what our government does.

Bean out.