Juan Cole: Whistleblowing is espionage. Reading books is a crime
Where is our Amsterdam? Lavabits, Snowden & Wikileaks Censorship recall age of Absolutism
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But not only is the government snooping into our private business, it is trying to censor what we read. Government employees have been forbidden to read the Wikileaks diplomatic cables. As a result, web sites that republish or discuss them, such as Tomdispatch.com, have been blocked on government servers.
But think about the prohibition. The Supreme Court found that once the Pentagon Papers were leaked, the New York Times could legally publish them. It seemed to have a doctrine that the government can try to cover things up with ‘classification’ schemes, but if it fails, then anyone can read the leaked documents.
But the US government currently disputes the Supreme Court decision, and continues to hold that it is a crime so much as to read the Wikileaks cables. That is, if the cables were reprinted in a book and the analyst were known to be reading that book, it could lead to the person’s firing.
So Levison has been forbidden to tell anyone about what information the government requested from him. His speech is not free.
Edward Snowden is in exile in Russia because the government, outrageously, charged him with espionage for leaking the existence of secret NSA programs that spy on the American people without a warrant.
Whistleblowing is espionage.
Reading books is a crime
Next we’ll have to publish our books and blogs anonymously in Amsterdam for fear of arbitrary arrest.
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Where is our Amsterdam? Lavabits, Snowden & Wikileaks Censorship recall age of Absolutism
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