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Visited WikiLeaks? NSA and GCHQ know about it

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Julian Assange in 2011 after losing appeals against extradition to Sweden

Efforts undertaken by the NSA and GCHQ to target groups including WikiLeaks, Anonymous and Pirate Bay using internet surveillance and prosecution have been detailed in an article published by The Intercept.

The latest documents leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden reveal that the NSA went to great lengths to target individuals associated with WikiLeaks, including founder Julian Assange and "the human network that supports it".

One particular document revealed that GCHQ tapped into fibre-optic cables to monitor visitors to the site in real time by tracking their IP addresses. It also tracked the search terms that visitors were using to reach the site, all as part of an operation codenamed ANTICRISIS GIRL. This suggests that internet users from anywhere in the world who visited WikiLeaks regularly could potentially have become a target for the NSA.

The documents also reveal that the NSA labelled WikiLeaks "a malicious foreign actor". The US government encouraged foreign regimes to press charges against Assange over WikiLeaks' publication of Afghanistan war logs.

"WikiLeaks strongly condemns the reckless and unlawful behaviour of the National Security Agency," said Julian Assange in a statement published on the WikiLeaks site. He called upon the Obama administration to conduct an investigation into the extent of the NSA's activity regarding the media, including the WikiLeaks network. He also criticised the media-monitoring activities of GCHQ, saying it shows no respect for the rule of law.

"No entity, including the NSA, should be permitted to act against journalists with impunity. We have instructed our General Counsel Judge Baltasar Garzn to prepare the appropriate response. The investigations into attempts to interfere with the work of WikiLeaks will go wherever they need to go. Make no mistake: those responsible will be held to account and brought to justice."

The Intercept -- the new publication launched by ex-Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has headed up the reporting on the Snowden documents -- points out that the WikiLeaks surveillance reveals just how far the NSA's actions stray from its "self-proclaimed focus on terrorism".

"The documents call into question the Obama administration's repeated insistence that US citizens are not being caught up in the sweeping surveillance dragnet being cast by the NSA. Under the broad rationale considered by the agency, for example, any communication with a group designated as a 'malicious foreign actor,' such as WikiLeaks and Anonymous, would be considered fair game for surveillance," the site points out.

The targeting of WikiLeaks, Anonymous and Pirate Bay follows earlier revelations that GCHQ used DDoS attacks to target hacker collectives Anonymous and LulzSec. These latest accusations do not reflect well on GCHQ, which maintains its stance that "all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight". It's hard to see how this would apply to the monitoring of citizens from the UK and abroad who might be doing nothing more than reading the WikiLeaks site.

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Visited WikiLeaks? NSA and GCHQ know about it

Attorney for Edward Snowden Interrogated at U.K. Airport, Placed on "Inhibited Persons List" – Video

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Attorney for Edward Snowden Interrogated at U.K. Airport, Placed on "Inhibited Persons List"
http://www.democracynow.org - Four journalists who revealed the National Security Agency #39;s vast web of spying have been awarded the 2013 George Polk Awards i...

By: democracynow

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Attorney for Edward Snowden Interrogated at U.K. Airport, Placed on "Inhibited Persons List" - Video

Edward Snowden Elected Rector At University Of Glasgow

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Edward Snowden, who made headlines last year for revealing details about U.S. phone and Internet surveillance, is now the student rector at UKs Glasgow University. The post is a symbolic one, and is decided by a student election. As rector, Snowden represents the student populace and is expected to work with the student representative council, bring student concerns to the attention of university management, and attend the university court.

Snowden was nominated by a group of students who had received his prior approval through his legal representative. The group stated that Glasgow University has a tradition of making noteworthy and relevant statements through their rectors. Electing Snowden to the post was their way of showing him and other whistleblowers that they stand in solidarity with them and their causein this case, the opposition to surveillance, the immoral and pervasive intrusion by the state into the private lives of its people.

Whistleblowers should be honored and theyre heroes rather than traitors, Lubna Nowak said in an interview. She is part of the student group who nominated Snowden to the post.

The other nominees to the post were author Alan Bissett, local clergyman Kelvin Holdsworth, and champion cyclist Graeme Obree. Snowden succeeds former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy. Previous Glasgow University student rectors include Mordechai Vanunu and Winnie Mandela.

Snowden will hold the post for three years, after which there will be another round of nominations for the next rector. This years election was done using a single transferable vote system. During the first round, he received 3,124 votes, and got 3,347 in the second round of voting.

Snowden, a former analyst for the United States National Security Agency, became known for disclosing classified documents to the media. The documents revealed that the NSA had been running surveillance on Internet use and telecommunications on a global scale. He has been granted temporary asylum in Russia after fleeing the US in May 2013.

Image via YouTube

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Edward Snowden Elected Rector At University Of Glasgow


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