How free is our freedom of the press? | Trevor Timm

Translator: Clement Cheung Reviewer: Alan Watson

So this is James Risen.

呢個係 James Risen

You may know him as the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter

佢係紐約時報嘅記者

佢榮獲普立茲獎而為人熟悉

for The New York Times.

Long before anybody knew Edward Snowden's name,

喺大家仲未聽過 斯諾登呢個名字之前

Risen wrote a book in which he famously exposed

James Risen 因為寫咗本

揭露美國國家安全局 非法竊聽美國民衆通話嘅書

that the NSA was illegally wiretapping the phone calls of Americans.

而備受矚目

But it's another chapter in that book

但本書嘅另一章 可能有更加深遠嘅影響

that may have an even more lasting impact.

In it, he describes a catastrophic US intelligence operation

裏邊佢描述咗美國情報部門 一次慘烈後果嘅行動

in which the CIA quite literally handed over blueprints

上面講咗中情局將核彈嘅設計圖 交咗畀伊朗

of a nuclear bomb to Iran.

If that sounds crazy, go read it.

如果你覺得太瘋狂，你可以去讀下

It's an incredible story.

內裏真係難以置信

But you know who didn't like that chapter?

你估咩人會唔鍾意嗰一章？

The US government.

美國政府

For nearly a decade afterwards,

差唔多往後嗰十年

Risen was the subject of a US government investigation

James 都係美國政府調查嘅對象

in which prosecutors demanded that he testify

調查嘅官員亦會要求佢

against one of his alleged sources.

指證佢聲稱嘅消息來源

And along the way, he became the face for the US government's recent pattern

佢變成咗美國政府

最近一系列起訴泄密者 同監察記者行動嘅代表人物

of prosecuting whistleblowers and spying on journalists.

You see, under the First Amendment,

喺第一修正案之下，為咗公眾利益

the press has the right to publish secret information in the public interest.

新聞界有權報道各種秘密消息

但係如果媒體冇辦法收集消息

But it's impossible to exercise that right if the media can't also gather that news

and protect the identities of the brave men and women

冇辦法保護呢班無畏無懼嘅線人

who get it to them.

就冇辦法行使呢個嘅權利

So when the government came knocking,

所以當政府人員搵上門

Risen did what many brave reporters have done before him:

James 好似以前好多嘅記者咁

he refused

佢拒絕提供任何消息

and said he'd rather go to jail.

佢寧願坐監

So from 2007 to 2015,

2007 年至到 2015 年

Risen lived under the specter of going to federal prison.

James 响監視下 開始佢喺聯邦監獄嘅生活

That is, until just days before the trial, when a curious thing happened.

就喺審判前幾日，有樣奇怪事發生咗

Suddenly, after years of claiming it was vital to their case,

政府喺堅持 James 係 本案關鍵嘅幾年之後

the government dropped their demands to Risen altogether.

政府突然放棄咗對 James 嘅所有要求

It turns out, in the age of electronic surveillance,

喺電子監控年代 記者同線人根本冇地方匿

there are very few places reporters and sources can hide.

And instead of trying and failing to have Risen testify,

與其一次又一次被 James 拒絕舉證

they could have his digital trail testify against him instead.

政府可以用佢嘅電子記錄 嚟指證 Jeffrey Sterling

So completely in secret and without his consent,

於是喺完全機密而且未經同意嘅情況下

prosecutors got Risen's phone records.

控方攞到 James 嘅電話紀錄

They got his email records, his financial and banking information,

郵箱紀錄、理財同銀行資料、信用報告

his credit reports,

even travel records with a list of flights he had taken.

甚至佢坐過嘅航班紀錄

And it was among this information that they used to convict Jeffrey Sterling,

控方喺呢啲紀綠當中搵到證據 起訴 Jeffrey Sterling

Risen's alleged source and CIA whistleblower.

Jeffrey 就係 James 聲稱嘅消息來源 同埋中情局嘅泄密者

Sadly, this is only one case of many.

好遺憾，呢一類嘅事成千上萬

President Obama ran on a promise to protect whistleblowers,

奧巴馬總統應承過保護泄密者

and instead, his Justice Department has prosecuted more

但係相反

佢嘅司法部門拉嘅告密者 比其他部門加起嚟仲多

than all other administrations combined.

Now, you can see how this could be a problem,

所以依個係好大嘅問題

especially because the government considers so much of what it does secret.

尤其當政府對佢哋嘅祕密咁敏感嘅時候

Since 9/11, virtually every important story about national security

9.11 之後，基本上所有 關於國家安全嘅重大新聞

has been the result of a whistleblower coming to a journalist.

都係由告密者提供畀記者嘅

So we risk seeing the press unable to do their job

正因爲政府監視住所有人

that the First Amendment is supposed to protect

新聞界好難行使 第一修正案賦予佢哋嘅權利

because of the government's expanded ability to spy on everyone.

But just as technology has allowed the government

不過正如科技幫政府 監視記者嘅一舉一動

to circumvent reporters' rights,

the press can also use technology

新聞界都可以 以其人之道還治其人之身

to protect their sources even better than before.

利用科技保護佢哋嘅線人

And they can start from the moment they begin speaking with them,

保護仲可以從第一次對話就已經開始

rather than on the witness stand after the fact.

而唔使喺佢哋被審嘅時候先嚟保護

Communications software now exists

宜家好多通訊軟件 喺 James 出書嘅時候冇嘅

that wasn't available when Risen was writing his book,

and is much more surveillance-resistant than regular emails or phone calls.

而且反監視能力 比一般電郵同電話好好多

For example, one such tool is SecureDrop,

例如有一款叫 SecureDrop 嘅軟件

依個係一款開放原始碼嘅告密系統

an open-source whistleblower submission system

that was originally created by the late Internet luminary Aaron Swartz,

由亞倫 · 斯沃茨 一位過咗身嘅互聯網大師開發嘅

and is now developed at the non-profit where I work,

喺我做嘢嘅地方，新聞自由基金會 繼續開發緊

Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Instead of sending an email,

與其傳送電郵

you go to a news organization's website,

你可以去某個新聞機構嘅網站

like this one here on The Washington Post.

譬如依度華盛頓郵報

喺依度你可以上載檔案或者傳送訊息

From there, you can upload a document or send information

much like you would on any other contact form.

就好似其他網上嘅聯絡表格咁

It'll then be encrypted and stored on a server

資料會被加密喺伺服器入面

that only the news organization has access to.

得新聞機構嘅人可以睇

So the government can no longer secretly demand the information,

所以政府冇得再祕密追蹤依啲信息

and much of the information they would demand

就算追蹤到 都好大機會唔會係一手資料

wouldn't be available in the first place.

SecureDrop, though, is really only a small part of the puzzle

SecureDrop 只係 21 世紀 保護新聞自由嘅一個小小工具

for protecting press freedom in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, governments all over the world

不過世界各地嘅政府 時時刻刻都開發新嘅監視技術

are constantly developing new spying techniques

that put us all at risk.

令我哋更加危險

And it's up to us going forward to make sure

所以我哋只能夠繼續努力

that it's not just the tech-savvy whistleblowers,

唔單止保護善於科技嘅告密者

like Edward Snowden, who have an avenue for exposing wrongdoing.

好似斯諾登咁 有自己嘅渠道揭發政府惡行

It's just as vital that we protect the next veteran's health care whistleblower

仲要保護嗰啲 透過揭發退伍老兵醫療問題

提醒我哋醫院擠迫問題嘅告密者

alerting us to overcrowded hospitals,

or the next environmental worker

保護嗰啲帶出費林特市污水 隱患嘅環衛工人

sounding the alarm about Flint's dirty water,

or a Wall Street insider

保護警惕我哋 下次金融危機來臨嘅華爾街中人

warning us of the next financial crisis.

After all, these tools weren't just built to help the brave men and women

所以，依啲工具唔係爲咗 保護敢於揭發罪行嘅線人

who expose crimes,

but are meant to protect all of our rights under the Constitution.

而係爲咗保障憲法下 所有人得到應有嘅權利

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）