*** Note: Call for signatures is now closed. ****
We, the undersigned journalists and human rights defenders cannot remain silent while our colleagues and profession are under attack.
We deplore the actions taken by the US Government against WikiLeaks journalists Sarah Harrison, Joseph Farrell and Kristinn Hraffnsson. We believe they represent political persecution of journalists and journalism. Free societies everywhere are best served by journalism and publishing that holds governments and corporations to account and guarantees citizens’ right to know. Such work is not espionage or terrorism; it is journalism.
Our work cannot be done without privacy and freedom from fear of political persecution or retaliation. Search and seizure orders to obtain full, retroactive access to all private communications of journalists are not only disproportionate, they amount to political persecution. Journalists and citizens expect not only legal, but also ethical behavior from Internet service providers.
Despite its stated commitment to freedom of opinion and expression, Google appears to have provided all email content, metadata, contacts, draft emails, deleted emails and IP addresses connected to journalists accounts without effective protest.
Google has as of date failed to respond to WikiLeaks’ staff letter, and has provided no concrete evidence that it fought the gag order in a timely manner. WikiLeaks has not been provided any court orders showing why notification was delayed more than two and a half years.
We, the undersigned
- Support the requests that Wikileaks has made to Google in their letter of complaint. Google should provide a full disclosure about the proceedings and deliberations prior to complying with the warrant as well as whether and how it challenge the order and collaborated in an investigation of espionage against journalists;
- Demand that Google does more to protect the privacy of all its users. Google should always exercise its legal right to challenge gag orders in search and seizure warrants against a public interest group, journalist organization, lawyer or law firm.
- Demand that the US Department of Justice closes its criminal investigation of WikiLeaks, its staff and members. The ongoing investigation criminalizes the newsgathering process and puts all editors and journalists at risk of prosecution.
Signed,
General information: Magistrate Judge John F. Anderson, the same prosecutor that issued the arrest warrant for Edward Snowden, issued the search and seizure warrants for WikiLeaks journalists Harrison, Hrafnsson and Farrell. Document #1: Search & Seizure Warrant for Sarah Harrison, Investigation = Editor of WikiLeaks https://wikileaks.org/google-warrant/227-harrison.pdf Document #2: Search & Seizure Warrant for Joseph Farrell, Section Editor = of WikiLeaks https://wikileaks.org/google-warrant/228-farrell.pdf Document #3: Search & Seizure Warrant for Kristinn Hrafnsson, = Spokesperson of WikiLeaks https://wikileaks.org/google-warrant/229-hrafnsson.pdf The investigation against WikiLeaks is condemned by journalists and human rights/free speech organizations. In June 2014, over fifty press freedom and human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote to Attorney General Holder calling on the Justice Department to end its investigation against WikiLeaks, observing that it criminalizes the newsgathering process and puts all editors and journalists at risk of prosecution. Read the June 2014 open letter from over fifty press freedom organizations to AG Holder from June 2014: http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/37599/en/letter-to-eric-holder-in-support-of-wikileaks
