UK Government Targets Free Speech


When Brazilian student tried to get info regarding the Snowden leaks out of the United Kingdom, he was greeted by the authoritarianism of the local police. With the material in his possession being deemed “highly sensitive”, he was stopped by the London Metropolitan Police. According to The Anti Media:

London — Metropolitan Police claim an investigation into the possibility of prosecuting journalists for their role in publishing secrets leaked by Edward Snowden will be kept secret.  The revelation that information won’t be disclosed due to a “possibility of increased threat of terrorist activity” follows the relentless demands for information from journalists at The Intercept.

In 2013, Brazilian student David Miranda—partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who was then at the centre of the Guardian’s disclosures about the National Security Agency—was detained for 9-hours at Heathrow Airport while transporting a batch of encrypted Snowden documents to assist Greenwald’s reporting on the files.

Miranda was returning from Germany where he had met filmmaker Glenn Greenwald, who was involved in breaking revelations leaked by Edward Snowden. The leaks exposed the extent of mass online surveillance carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency and the U.K.’s monitoring operation, GCHQ.

After the airport seizure of digital material including a laptop, cell-phone, and memory sticks, the London Metropolitan Police opened a criminal investigation and posted a statement on its website, describing the confiscated material as “highly sensitive” and claiming the disclosure of it “could put lives at risk.”

At the time, in London’s High Court, lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw said, “The disclosure of (the material) would be gravely injurious to public safety and thus the police have now initiated a criminal investigation.” He added, “…there is an absolutely compelling reason to permit this investigation to continue.”

Limiting speech is nothing new for Britain, unfortunately.  It’s fair to say that freedom of speech is dead in the UK. Here in the ‘States we should take the UK as an example of what we could become if we’re not careful. Because, with the way things are looking, we could end up like them before we even know it.

Source: The Anti Media



Share

37 Comments

Leave a Reply

Pin It on Pinterest