ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

Civil Liberties and the World Wide Web

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Civil LibertiesIt is interesting to read this article, as it reflects the things that I have been writing and talking about over the last 20 years – of course I have been writing about Big Brother and the loss of civil liberties in part, and this is now encompassed in the world wide web and how government is using it to monitor and control what we do, see and hear.  I make no bones about the fact that I distrust government in its attitude and continued use of phrases  about we need CCTV to control terrorism, for your protection etc.  That we don’t need personal encryption, as if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to hide, and we won’t maintain personal data longer ‘that is necessary’.  There ares lots of more glib phrases, but they all come down to government control, and you losing your civil liberties  Civil Liberties - CCTV

It has taken all of us to build the web we have, and now it is up to all of us to build the web we want – for everyone

Source: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it | Tim Berners-Lee

Encryption matters for your security

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cyber security and encryptionEncryption matters – as someone who regularly writes about ‘Big Brother’ and the intrusion by state and other agencies into our private lives, I have to also point out that we as individuals owe a duty to ourselves and society to protect ourselves.  The first step is being careful with your passwords, do not use simple ones easily fathomed out from your personal details.

Secondly, whenever possible, encrypt your data.  A lot of message systems do so automatically now, but don’t use one if it doesn’t.  Also, check your email service and how secure your emails are from the point they leave you until they arrive at their destination.

Security is our problem, and we can’t complain if we don’t do whatever we can ourselves to ensure our own safety!cyber security and encryption

Encryption needs you! Sign Mozilla’s pledge to stand up for encryption and a more secure Web at advocacy.mozilla.org/encrypt

Source: Encryption matters

When should journalists take on the role of activists?

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Are journalists who are silent on issues of privacy and net neutrality doing their jobs correctly, asks Dan Gillmor of the First Amendment Coalition

journalism.co.uk  Posted: 19 June 2015 By:
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Credit: Thinkstock

Objectivity is one of the pillars of journalism, ingrained into a newsroom’s editorial processes and taught to trainee journalists from the very first day.

But there is also space for journalists to take a stand on what they believe in, said Dan Gillmor, board member of the First Amendment Coalition and Guardian columnist.

“I don’t believe objectivity really exists,” he said at the GEN Summit today. “It’s kind of a unicorn, it’s a nice idea…”

“But even as we are worshipping at this altar of objectivity or neutrality, there’s some issues where, as journalists, we simply cannot be neutral, cannot be objective and should not try to be.”

He highlighted the freedoms which are under threat in the digital world, freedoms that are essential to journalists and citizens: freedom to associate, collaborate and innovate, all intertwined with the freedom of the press.

He said there is “an attack on the decentralised fundamental nature of the internet” from governments and corporations, as well as mass-surveillance, as revealed by the NSA leaks of Edward Snowden.

“If we’re ok with that, are we doing our jobs correctly as journalists?” he asked delegates.

“We journalists should be using encryption all the time, but we shouldn’t stop there.

“We should be teaching encryption to our audiences, helping them use it themselves.”

He pointed to more issues journalists have failed to deal with “in a fundamental way” while discussing how to fit in with “the world of Facebook”, such as the threat to net neutrality in Europe, for example.

The media industry should recognise the idea of “activism as journalism”, a connection that makes many uncomfortable – some of the finest reporting can be done by advocacy groups and NGOs like Human Rights Watch, he said.

There are however many activists who are pushing out propaganda, but “there is a great role for activism in journalism”.

“Please be activists for those core freedoms… Please campaign against control and please campaign for more open systems and technologies than the ones that are being created around us,” he told delegates