318
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
1 collections
    0
    shares

      If you have found this article useful and you think it is important that researchers across the world have access, please consider donating, to ensure that this valuable collection remains Open Access.

      State Crime Journal is published by Pluto Journals, an Open Access publisher. This means that everyone has free and unlimited access to the full-text of all articles from our international collection of social science journalsFurthermore Pluto Journals authors don’t pay article processing charges (APCs).

      scite_
       
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Whistle-Blowing as a Form of Digital Resistance: State Crimes and Crimes Against the State

      research-article
      Bookmark

            Abstract

            Whistle-blowing has always been an important vector of resistance to state crimes, and technology has produced a new generation of digitally mediated truthtelling, which is novel in its provision of source material, its systemic critique and the breadth of its impact. International standards and national legal frameworks increasingly acknowledge the importance of whistle-blowers, but those whose disclosures challenge the state are often excluded from emerging standards of protection. The repercussions for those excluded include restrictions on freedom of expression pursued through the courts and the rhetorical framing of truthtelling as a crime against the state. Ultimately, if whistle-blowers' revelations about state crimes are to hit home, their status as human rights defenders needs to be asserted.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Journal
            10.13169
            statecrime
            State Crime Journal
            Pluto Journals
            20466056
            20466064
            1 April 2018
            : 7
            : 1
            : 24-45
            Affiliations
            [1 ] Courage Foundation
            Article
            statecrime.7.1.0024
            10.13169/statecrime.7.1.0024
            b3a74836-440b-4631-9ff9-4823bcbf16b8
            © 2018 International State Crime Initiative

            All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

            History
            Categories

            Criminology
            whistle-blowing,hactivism,state crime,journalism,public interest,national security,official secrets,computer crimes,human rights

            References

            1. ( 2014) “Edward Snowden: The Untold Story”, Wired . Available online at https://www.wired.com/2014/08/edward-snowden/.

            2. ( 2016) “Commentary: Evidence Points to Another Snowden at the NSA”, Reuters . Available online at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-intelligence-nsa-commentary-idUSKCN10×01P.

            3. ( 2014) “A Public Accountability Defense for National Security Leakers and Whistleblowers”, Harvard Law & Policy Review 8: 281– 326. Available online at https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/12786017/Benkler.pdf?sequence=3.

            4. ( 2017) “Ex-CIA Director Hayden Says Millennials Leak Secrets Because They Are ‘Culturally’ Different”, The Washington Post . Available online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/03/10/ex-cia-director-hayden-says-millennials-leak-secrets-because-they-are-culturally-different/.

            5. Blueprint for Free Speech ( 2015) “Breaking the Silence: Strengths and Weaknesses in G20 Whistleblower Protection Laws”. Available online at https://blueprintforfreespeech.net/g20.

            6. Blueprint for Free Speech ( 2016) Available online at https://blueprintforfreespeech.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Report-Protecting-Whistleblowers-In-The-UK.pdf.

            7. ( 2014) “Luxembourg Tax Whistleblower Says He Acted Out of Conviction”, The Guardian .

            8. Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/15/luxembourg-tax-avoidance-whistleblower-conviction.

            9. ( 1989) “State-Organized Crime: American Society of Criminology, 1988 Presidential Address”, Criminology 27: 183– 208.

            10. ( 2017) “The Public Interest Hack”, Limn . Available online at http://limn.it/the-public-interest-hack.

            11. ( 2017) “The Logic of Leaks, Reconsidered”, Limn . Available online at http://limn.it/the-logic-of-leaks-reconsidered/.

            12. Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly ( 2011) Abuse of State Secrecy and National Security: Obstacles to Parliamentary and Judicial Scrutiny of Human Rights Violations . Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

            13. Der Spiegel ( 2013) “The NSA's Secret Spy Hub in Berlin”. Available online at http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-nsa-spied-on-merkel-cell-phone-from-berlin-embassy-a-930205.html.

            14. and ( 2013) The Obama Administration and the Press . Committee to Protect Journalists. Available online at https://cpj.org/reports/2013/10/obama-and-the-press-us-leaks-surveillance-post-911.php.

            15. ( 2014) On Secrecy, Oaths, and Edward Snowden . Freedom of the Press Foundation. Available online at https://freedom.press/news-advocacy/on-secrecy-oaths-and-edward-snowden/.

            16. ( 2015) “How Switzerland Corrupted Its Courts to Pursue a Bank Whistleblower”, Tax Justice Network . Available online at http://www.taxjustice.net/2015/07/01/guest-blog-how-switzerland-corrupted-its-courts-to-nail-rudolf-elmer/.

            17. European Commission ( 2017) “Antitrust: Commission Introduces New Anonymous Whistleblower Tool”. Available online at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-591_en.htm.

            18. European Commission ( 2018) “Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Protection of Persons Reporting on Breaches of Union Law”. COM(2018)218 (draft). Brussels: European Commission.

            19. Executive Office of the President of the United States ( 2013) “Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets”. Available online at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/IPEC/admin_strategy_on_mitigating_the_theft_of_u.s._trade_secrets.pdf.

            20. ( 1972) Departmental Committee on Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, Cmnd. 5014 . London: H.M.S.O. (Franks Report).

            21. Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information ( 2013) Available online at https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/global-principles-national-security-10232013.pdf.

            22. and ( 2004) State Crime: Governments, Violence and Corruption . London: Pluto Press.

            23. ( 2016) “How the Pentagon Punished NSA Whistleblowers”, The Guardian . Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/22/how-pentagon-punished-nsa-whistleblowers.

            24. ( 1987) Official Secrets: The Use and Abuse of the Act . London: Martin Secker & Warburg.

            25. ( 2011) “You Can't Bank on Free Speech”, Al-Jazeera . Available online at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111189344715970.html.

            26. ( 2014) “With Liberty to Monitor All: How Large-Scale US Surveillance Is Harming Journalism”. Available online at https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/07/28/liberty-monitor-all/how-large-scale-us-surveillance-harming-journalism-law-and.

            27. ( 2017) The Art of Revolt . Stanford: Stanford University Press.

            28. Law Commission ( 2017) “Protection of Official Data”. Consultation Paper No. 230. Available online at https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lawcom-prod-storage-11jsxou24uy7q/uploads/2017/02/cp230_protection_of_official_data.pdf.

            29. ( 2017) “Secret Report Contradicts US Position on Chelsea Manning Leaks”, Buzzfeed . Available online at https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/secret-government-report-chelsea-manning-leaks-caused-no.

            30. and ( 1994) In from the Cold: National Security and Parliamentary Democracy . Oxford: Clarendon Press.

            31. ( 2014) “Petraeus Plea Deal Reveals Two-Tier Justice System for Leaks”, The Intercept . Available online at https://theintercept.com/2015/03/03/petraeus-plea-deal-reveals-two-tier-justice-system-leaks/.

            32. ( 2016) “The Silent Man of LuxLeaks Fights Back”, Politico . Available online at http://www.politico.eu/article/silent-man-of-luxleaks-fights-back-raphael-halet/.

            33. ( 2012) Classified: Secrecy and the State in Modern Britain . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

            34. New York Times ( 2010) “Debate in Israel on Gag Order in Security Leak Case”. Available online at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/middleeast/07israel.html.

            35. ( 2013) “U.N. Anti-Spying Resolution Weakened in Bid to Gain U.S. British Support”, Reuters . Available online at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-surveillance-un-idUSBRE9AK14220131121.

            36. ( 2013) “US Stops Jailed Activist Barrett Brown from Discussing Leaks Prosecution”, The Guardian . Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/barrett-brown-gag-order-us-government.

            37. ( 2013) “The Leaky Leviathan: Why the Government Condemns and Condones Unlawful Disclosures of Information”, Harvard Law Review 127: 512– 635. Available online at https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol127_pozen.pdf.

            38. ( 2016) “Obama Leaves Trump a Mixed Legacy on Whistle-Blowers”, The New Yorker . Available online at http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/obama-leaves-trump-a-mixed-legacy-on-whistle-blowers.

            39. Privacy International ( 2017) “New Documents Reveal Kenya's Worrying Attempts to Monitor the Internet”. Available online at https://privacyinternational.org/node/1476.

            40. Public Administration Select Committee ( 2009) “Leaks and Whistleblowing in Whitehall”, pp. 32– 36. Available online at https://fas.org/irp/world/uk/leaks.pdf.

            41. Public Concern at Work ( 2013) “Whistleblowing: The Inside Story”. Available online at http://www.pcaw.org.uk/files/Whistleblowing%20-%20the%20inside%20story%20FINAL.pdf.

            42. ( 2014) “United Nations Human Rights Committee Resolves to Protect Privacy”, The Guardian . Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/nov/26/united-nations-human-rights-privacy-security.

            43. ( 1999) The Justice Game . London: Vintage.

            44. ( 2013) Secrets and Leaks: The Dilemma of State Secrecy . Princeton: Princeton University Press.

            45. ( 2018) Global Teamwork: The Rise of Collaboration in Investigative Journalism . Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Available online at https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-03/sambrook_e-ISBN_1802.pdf

            46. ( 2017a) “Obama Pardons James Cartwright, General Who Lied to F.B.I”, New York Times . Available online at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/us/politics/obama-pardons-james-cart-wright-general-who-lied-to-fbi-in-leak-case.html.

            47. ( 2017b) “Was Snowden a Russian Agent?”, The New York Review of Books . Available online at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/02/09/edward-snowden-russian-agent/.

            48. and ( 2016) Human Rights and Encryption . Paris: UNESCO. Available online at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002465/246527E.pdf.

            49. Sparrow Media ( 2013) “Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison, Jeremy Hammond Uses Allocution to Give Consequential Statement Highlighting Global Criminal Exploits by FBI Handlers”. Available online at https://www.sparrowmedia.net/2013/11/jeremy-hammond-sentence/.

            50. ( 1980) Writing by Candlelight . London: Merlin.

            51. ( 2014) Before Snowden, Nixon Admin Pioneered Evidence-Free “Russian Spy” Smears Against Daniel Ellsberg . Freedom of the Press Foundation. Available online at https://freedom.press/news-advocacy/before-snowden-nixon-admin-pioneered-evidence-free-russian-spy-smears-against-daniel-ellsberg/.

            52. and ( 2017) Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers in a Digital Age . Information Law and Policy Centre. Available online at http://infolawcentre.blogs.sas.ac.uk/files/2017/02/Sources-Report_webversion_22_2_17.pdf.

            53. Transparency International ( 2018) “A Best Practice Guide for Whistleblowing Legislation”. Available online at https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/best_practice_guide_for_whistle-blowing_legislation.

            54. UN Human Rights Council ( 2015) “Report on Encryption, Anonymity, and the Human Rights Framework”, 22 May 2015, A/HRC/29/32. Available online at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/CallForSubmission.aspx.

            55. and ( 2014) “US Credits Key Hacker in Blocking Attacks”, Boston Globe . Available online at https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/05/24/says-hacker-helped-prevent-web-attacks/ipsOvL3zpVMDjOPoUy2O0I/story.html.

            56. ( 2017) “A Whistleblowing Platform against Corruption for the City Council of Barcelona”, OpenDemocracy . Available online at https://www.opendemocracy.net/digitaliberties/xnet/whistle-blowing-platform-against-corruption-for-city-council-of-barcelona.

            Comments

            Comment on this article