Many years after September 11, when I finally could
comprehend what exactly the Patriot Act was, I was not surprised to find that
most of the controversy was focused around the infamous provision that allows
the government easier access to our personal information and
communications. But the insidious
nature of government surveillance never really occurred to me until I read the
ASNE memo on the Patriot Act’s effect on newspapers written by Richard M.
Schmidt and Kevin M. Goldberg. While
most of the rhetoric against government surveillance has mostly revolved around
“government surveillance is bad because we deserve privacy”, Schmidt and
Goldberg did a good job on clarifying the concrete damage that government
surveillance can do to our freedom of expression. As Schmidt and Goldberg are quick to point out, the language that
the Patriot Act is composed of is extremely vague—which makes it all the more
conducive to convenient definitions that can justify the stilling of
dissent. For example, Schmidt and
Goldberg cite the example of journalists: by definition, their work is to
disseminate information. One doesn’t
have to be terribly imaginative to point out that journalists are indeed
passing information to foreign entities, and should thus be wiretapped. But even the threat surveillance can be
oppressive. Just the mere hint that one
is being observed can and do drastically alter our behavior. We’ve all been in situations where we had to
check or alter our words or behavior because we feel that the people around us
may not approve. The same can happen
with government surveillance, except the stakes are infinitely higher: instead
of a strange look or chastisement, there is potentially investigation or
imprisonment, both of which are permanently damaging to one’s life. Fear is oppression, and so is
observation. While I agree that there
certainly are national threats, I have to wonder, is our freedom too large a
price to pay for our “safety”? Perhaps
we ARE the enemy ourselves.
-Melody Yee
Section 2
ASA 2
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