It is always unconscionable for the government to punish people for expressing an idea merely because government officials - or the majority of citizens - decide that those ideas are 'dangerous' or 'wrong.' That is a power nobody ought to possess.
Glenn GreenwaldNobody has the right to shield any idea as so sacred it canโt be challenged. ... Almost all human progress is driven by people who stood up and said โI disagreeโ with this idea that society at the time considered to be the most precious.โ
Glenn GreenwaldMany of the most important stories in the history of modern journalism have come from sources who have taken information without authorization.
Glenn GreenwaldHistory shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.
Glenn GreenwaldWhy is one view permissible and the other criminally barred - other than because the force of law is being used to control political discourse and one form of terrorism (violence in the Muslim world) is done by, rather than to, the west?
Glenn GreenwaldAmericans love to mock the idea of monarchy, and yet we have our own de facto monarchy. I think what these leaks did is, they demonstrated that there really is this government that just is the kind of permanent government that doesnโt get affected by election choices and that isnโt in any way accountable to any sort of democratic transparency and just creates its own world off on its own.
Glenn Greenwald