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Rep. Peter King: Punish journalists who report classified information

“Representative Peter King (R-NY) on Tuesday night said that journalists who revealed secret government programs should face criminal charges. In response to WikiLeaks, King proposed legislation in 2010 that would have made publishing classified information “concerning the identity of a classified source or informant of an element of the intelligence community” an act of espionage. ‘These organizations are a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States,’ King explained at the time. ‘Julian Assange and his compatriots are enemies of the US and should be prosecuted under the Espionage Act.'” Continue reading →

Sen. Lindsey Graham: I would support censoring mail if it was ‘necessary’

“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters on Tuesday that he approved of censoring snail mail if it was necessary to protect innocent lives. ‘If I thought censoring the mail was necessary, I would suggest it, but I don’t think it is,’ he said, according to Yahoo News. The remarks came as Graham was answering questions about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, which has indiscriminately amassed Americans’ phone records. The Republican senator explained that censoring the mail had a precedent in American history. Though the First Amendment was ‘sacrosanct,’ it also ‘has limits,’ Graham said.” Continue reading →

Civil liberties groups launch StopWatching.us to protest surveillance

“A coalition of Internet and civil liberties groups launched a campaign Tuesday protesting the huge US online surveillance program revealed in the past week. Joining the effort were the Mozilla Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, Greenpeace USA, the World Wide Web Foundation and more than 80 other organizations or companies. The coalition launched a website, StopWatching.us, and called on Congress to launch a full probe and urging more disclosure from US officials about the National Security Agency’s vast program Internet surveillance program. An online petition was also launched on the website.” Continue reading →

Sales of George Orwell’s 1984 skyrocket in wake of spying scandal

“Big brother is watching — sales of George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘1984’ have skyrocketed in the wake of revelations of US government surveillance. The centennial edition of the novel surged 7,005 percent on Amazon, according to the online retailer’s ‘Mover and Shakers in Books’ page that monitors biggest gainers in sales rank compared to 24 hours ago. ‘Only 8 left in stock (more on the way),’ potential buyers are advised when clicking on the novel’s icon. A hardback encompassing both ‘1984’ and Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ jumped 314 percent.” Continue reading →

ACLU challenges constitutionality of NSA phone surveillance program

“The American Civil Liberties Union sued senior U.S. government officials on Tuesday to challenge the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s telephone surveillance program, saying it violates rights to free speech and privacy. The suit asked the court to immediately halt the NSA’s vast tracking program of telephone calls, declare the program illegal, and order the U.S. government to purge all databases of the call records. The ACLU suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York named James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, and the leaders of the NSA, the Defense Department, the Justice Department and the FBI.” Continue reading →

FBI’s Patriot Act records requests skyrocket 1,000% under Obama

“The FBI’s use of a controversial Patriot Act provision to demand business records has skyrocketed more than 1,000 percent under President Barack Obama versus his Republican predecessor George W. Bush. The so-called business records provision of the Patriot Act, titled Section 215, is the justification used for the NSA’s massive PRISM intercept program. A single Section 215 order was behind last week’s revelation that Verizon is cooperating with the NSA and handing over millions of phone call records daily. Companies that receive demands for business records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act are also subject to a secret gag order.” Continue reading →

Ai Weiwei: NSA surveillance makes the U.S. sound a lot like China

“Before the information age the Chinese government could decide you were a counter-revolutionary just because a neighbour reported something they had overheard. Thousands, even millions of lives were ruined through the misuse of such information. Today, through its technical abilities, the state can easily get into anybody’s bank account, private mail, conversations, and social media accounts. The internet and social media give us new possibilities of exploring ourselves. But we have never exposed ourselves in this way before, and it makes us vulnerable if anyone chooses to use it against us.” Continue reading →

Thousands flood Istanbul’s protest square after police clashes

“Thousands of demonstrators squared off against riot police on Tuesday and defiantly packed an Istanbul square after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned he had ‘no more tolerance’ for the mass protests against his Islamic-rooted government. The nationwide unrest first erupted after police cracked down heavily on May 31 on a campaign to save Gezi Park from redevelopment. The trouble spiralled into mass displays of anger against Erdogan, who is seen as increasingly authoritarian, tarnishing Turkey’s image as a model of Islamic democracy. Four people, including a policeman, had died. Nearly 5,000 people have been injured.” Continue reading →