UK officials destroy Guardian hard drives in misguided effort to stop Snowden stories

[Millennía]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/19/46...effort-to-stop

Officials from the British intelligence agency GCHQ raided The Guardian's offices to destroy hard drives related to the newspaper's stories about National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden — despite the fact that the information had already been disseminated to other sites around the world. In a chilling post today, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said the British government has put increasing pressure on editors to surrender all of the information that Snowden provided to the newspaper and its chief reporter on the stories, Glenn Greenwald. Prior to the destruction, an official reportedly told the paper, "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back." News of the raid comes a day after Greenwald's partner was detained for nine hours and questioned under terrorism statutes at Heathrow Airport.

Rusbridger said he explained to the unnamed government officials that there were other copies of the information they sought to destroy outside of England. But the officials insisted on destroying the drives anyway. Rusbridger said The Guardian would not be dissuaded from continuing to report the Snowden stories, but cautioned that intimidation tactics from government officials in Britain and the United States were making work increasingly difficult for journalists. "We are not there yet, but it may not be long before it will be impossible for journalists to have confidential sources," Rusbridger wrote. "Most reporting — indeed, most human life in 2013 — leaves too much of a digital fingerprint."

Pretty terrible if you ask me. This is just straight up intimidation. It seems you can only be a free press if you print what the government wants you to print.

[Deleted]

What shocks me is that people think this has not been happening since forever, the media changes but methods do not.

[Arlon]

I think what shocks people is the fact that it´s still happening, people are too used to a more "liberal" way of life, they don´t want goverments to become the same authoritharian institutions they once were.

[yetgdhfgh]

I smell a huge shit storm brewing

[Arlon]

This whole NSA thing is just a facade to resist cultural change anyway. NSA or no NSA, you have more chance of being striked by lightning than being affected by terrorism. Same goes for other countries with similar programs.

[Valerean]

What did you expect them to do, give the Guardian a pat on the back for being such good journos? There's a lot of highly classified information with potentially serious ramifications for the UK's national security being ferried around by a bunch of people I wouldn't trust with my gas bill.

What's hilarious is the faux-outrage being spewed by the Left that a law they wrote, voted for and passed has now actually been used.

[Thorim]

What did you expect them to do, give the Guardian a pat on the back for being such good journos? There's a lot of highly classified information with potentially serious ramifications for the UK's national security being ferried around by a bunch of people I wouldn't trust with my gas bill.

What's hilarious is the faux-outrage being spewed by the Left that a law they wrote, voted for and passed has now actually been used.

What you meant to say was that the NSA and GCHQ got found out illegally collecting basically all web traffic and are embarrassed and trying to cover their tracks. You really think all this "damaging national security" BS is true? the whole national security interests card is always, ALWAYS, played when it's something embarrassing and/or illegal.

[Naxere]

So, if I got this right, there are people in this thread that think it's absolutely OK for a government to raid an office to destroy information about a story they don't like? What happened to freedom of the press?

[Deleted]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/19/46...effort-to-stop
Pretty terrible if you ask me. This is just straight up intimidation. It seems you can only be a free press if you print what the government wants you to print.

UK has no freedom of the press, Never has done.
suprises me that the MOD / whoever took so long in getting their act together in trying to recive the drives from the guardian, its also pretty dumb of them not to realise that it would be stored out of country in various locations.

The horse has bolted, now all they can do is close the gate and try and clean up the mess.

[Valerean]

The US and UK intelligence agencies were caught being very naughty (gasp, shock, horror, who'd have thought...) - I was merely pointing out that the UK government is acting as any government would do in these circumstances, i.e. try and suppress and control the situation to any extent that they can.

That's the thing about secrets, a lot of them tend to be embarrassing - while some of them are actually quite important. Which ones were on those hard-drives? I sure as hell don't know. Which brings me back to my original point that the hallowed halls of the Guardian aren't exactly wrapped up in Fort Knox levels of security.

[Tomana]

"Democratic country", my backside... -_-

[Deleted]

"Democratic country", my backside... -_-

Name one country that is.

[Valerean]

So, if I got this right, there are people in this thread that think it's absolutely OK for a government to raid an office to destroy information about a story they don't like? What happened to freedom of the press?

Let's say that included in that information was the identity of a guy/firm in China who'd been assisting the US/UK in tapping internet cables over there. Now what would happen to that guy/those employees if that information, held in the fortress-like confines of a declining UK broadsheet's basement, somehow made its way to Beijing... see where I'm going with this?

[Deleted]

Name one country that is.

I mean I think some of the smaller countries like Iceland have a decent claim. At least they're considerably more open and democratic than England and the US.

[Emophia]

Name one country that is.

That's a problem.

Nowhere is safe anymore

[Deleted]

I mean I think some of the smaller countries like Iceland have a decent claim. At least they're considerably more open and democratic than England and the US.

They have a population of 300k, they are safe because nobody gives a fuck about them and they have nothing anybody want, they do not even have a Military instead they rely on others to protect them.

[Zephre]

I mean I think some of the smaller countries like Iceland have a decent claim. At least they're considerably more open and democratic than England and the US.

Iceland? I'm pretty sure they refused to pay debts they had to Brits and the Dutch, something along those lines.

[Deleted]

The answer "every other country does it", has to be one of the most childish "justification" ever given.
It's what you say to your teacher when she catches you picking your nose.

Just because other countries "pick their nose", doesnt mean you have to...

[Grizzly Willy]

Hey UK, we've saved you a seat. You can join our "horrible government is horrible" club.

[Jamie081]

Hey UK, we've saved you a seat. You can join our "horrible government is horrible" club.

I've been waiting for this moment all my life. I can't wait to join!