The top editor of the British newspaper The Guardian told Parliament on Tuesday that since it obtained documents on government surveillance from a former National Security Agency contractor, Edward J. Snowden, it has met with government agencies in Britain and the United States more than 100 times and has been subjected to measures “designed to intimidate.”
The testimony by the editor, Alan Rusbridger, gave a public airing to
the debate over how to balance press freedom against national security
concerns, an issue that became more acute once The Guardian began
publishing material leaked by Mr. Snowden in June.
The American and British governments have said the disclosures, which
detail how the National Security Agency and its equivalent in Britain,
Government Communication Headquarters, gather vast amounts of data,
damage national security and help hostile governments. Journalists and
transparency advocates have countered that the leak spurred a vital
debate on privacy and the role of spy agencies in the Internet age.
Mr. Rusbridger said Tuesday that the governments’ measures “include
prior restraint,” as well as visits by officials to his office, the
enforced destruction of Guardian computer disks with power tools and
repeated calls from lawmakers “asking police to prosecute” The Guardian
for disclosing the classified material in news articles.
As he testified before a Parliamentary committee on national security,
he faced aggressive questioning from lawmakers, particularly those of
the ruling Conservative Party. Some asserted that The Guardian had
handled the material irresponsibly, putting it at risk of interception
by hostile governments and others. Others said the paper had jeopardized
national security.
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