Opinion: A German attack on press freedom

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/opinion-a-german-attack-on-press-freedom/a-18620052

Germany's domestic intelligence agency is taking action on Internet surveillance. The fact that journalists rather than intelligence agencies stand accused of treason is a scandal, says DW's Martin Muno.

Opinion: A German attack on press freedom
Martin Muno
31.07.2015

That we live in an age of universal surveillance is one of the bitter insights that have been part of our daily lives as Internet users ever since Edward Snowden's revelations of surveillance conducted by the US National Security Agency.

Once we found out that Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone was also tapped by the NSA, it's been clear that no one is exempt from surveillance.

What remains unclear in the context of this scandal is how much the German government knew about the NSA's moves and how much - if any - of the monitoring Berlin condoned or even supported. Suspecting that a government would help a foreign power monitor its people is outrageous - and it's a suspicion that needs to be clarified using all possible means.

~snip~

Now, the he has started an investigation aimed at two journalists who work for the blog Netzpolitik.org on suspicion of treason. The blog had reported on plans by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, to increase state surveillance of online communications. In the course of their work, the pair of journalists published confidential BfV documents. The BfV launched the criminal complaint.