Free Expression During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Timeline
A timeline tracking the free expression concerns raised by emergency measures enacted to contain and manage the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
NCAC Urges Speaker Pelosi to Support Critical Change to Patriot Act
NCAC has joined a coalition of more than 50 civil liberties, civil rights and government transparency organizations in urging Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress to include civil liberties reforms in the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020, a bill that would extend surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act which expired in March. The coalition’s [...]
NCAC Urges Privacy Protection Reforms
NCAC has joined a coalition of 36 organizations led by the ACLU, FreedomWorks, and Demand Progress, to urge Congress to reform the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020, a bill that would extend provisions of the Patriot Act which expired in March and pose unprecedented threats to Americans’ civil liberties. These provisions include the controversial “lone wolf” and “roving wiretap” [...]
NCAC Joins Call for Government Transparency During Coronavirus Pandemic
Democracy and democratic practices should not be obstructed in the interest of streamlining deliberations and decision making by our governing bodies in this time of crisis.
Free Expression and the Coronavirus Pandemic
Developments in the United States could threaten our civil liberties as responses to the coronavirus pandemic test governments and social structures worldwide.
NCAC Urges Passage of PATRIOT Act Reforms
NCAC endorses PATRIOT Act reforms to establish warrant protections for location information and internet browsing/search history, mandate an investigation into surveillance of First Amendment protected activities, and require the government to provide notice to defendants.
Support NCAC With Data Science Books from No Starch Press
No Starch Press data science book bundle benefits NCAC because data collection and analysis is used throughout the world to suppress people's rights.
NCAC Joins Statement of Civil Rights Concerns About Social Media Monitoring by Law Enforcement
When agencies use social media to keep tabs on people they perceive as suspicious, it has a disparate impact on historically overpoliced communities, especially communities of color.
Facebook Urged to Maintain End-to-End Encryption in Face of Government Pressure
NCAC urges Facebook to resist government pressure to end its use of end-to-end security encryption.
Coalition Objects to Universities Monitoring Chinese Students and Scholars
The FBI and other government officials have advised some U.S. universities to develop protocols for monitoring students and scholars from Chinese state-affiliated research institutions, based solely on their country of origin.
NCAC Joins Call to Remove Provision from Intelligence Authorization Act
A coalition of over two dozen organizations is calling for Congressional leaders to remove a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 that would dramatically expand the definition of a "covert agent."
NCAC Statement on Indictment of Julian Assange
By seeking to punish Assange for the publication of secret information, the Justice Department has crossed a line that threatens the public's right to view information that is damaging to the government.
NCAC Opposes DHS Surveillance of Activists, Journalists, and Lawyers
Coalition responds to reports of surveillance and targeting of activists, journalists, and lawyers by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Coalition Urges Congress to Review Surveillance Powers
Thirty-nine organizations are pressing for Congress to investigate whether the government has exceeded the limits of what is allowed by Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
NCAC Urges Swift Consideration of Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Nominees
The PCLOB has now lacked a quorum for over 19 months, hamstringing its ability to function.
Government Transparency Is Not a Partisan Issue: Eclipse of Sunshine Week
Since 2005 the National Association of News Editors has branded the third week of March “Sunshine Week.” But in 2018, Sunshine Week is looking less bright. Sunshine Week has been obscured by an eclipse. Zach Garrett cautions against allowing partisan politics to obscure the real issues.
Eclipse of Sunshine Week: NCAC Joins Coalition Condemning Government Threats to Openness, Ethics and Accountability
NCAC has joined a large group of organizations in opposing the continued, and growing, threats to openness, ethics and accountability created by a culture of secrecy in the US government. NCAC and its cosignatories have designated this week, which should celebrate public access to information, the Eclipse of Sunshine Week.
Congress Urged to Modify Surveillance Act to Protect Citizen’s Privacy
NCAC has joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 organizations to urge members of the House of Representatives to vote "yes" on the USA RIGHTS amendment and "no" on the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (S. 139) if the USA RIGHTS amendment does not pass.
NCAC Urges Reform to Law Authorizing International Surveillance
Because Section 702 has a potentially chilling effect on privacy and free speech, it has to be reauthorized periodically. It is set to expire at the end of the year.
NCAC Joins Coalition Defending Online Speech & the Right to Protest from DOJ Overreach
In the letter to the Attorney General, the groups condemned the Department’s overbroad reach and expressed alarm over DOJ investigative tactics that offend the rights of all individuals to political dissent and free assembly.
SIGN: Petition Demanding Congress Strengthen Judicial Protections for Government Whistleblowers; NCAC Joins Open Letter to Trump Admin. Demanding Whistleblower Protections
The petition focuses on the legal rights of whistle blowers, demanding adequate protections to ensure they receive a fair trial in any subsequent court action taken against them.
SIGN: Petition Urging Rejection of Proposal Requiring US Visitors’ Social Media Passwords
The online petition has been launched in response to the news DHS Secretary Kelly is likely to implement the proposal.
Groups Offer Support, Recommendations for FOIA ‘Release to One, Release to All’ Draft Policy
The letter to U.S Department of Justice praises the policy but pushes back against certain justifications for rule exemptions.
Obama Safeguarding Classified Report on CIA’s Use of Torture
The Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program, a landmark document that details the effectiveness agency's use of torture, will be preserved by the outgoing Obama administration.
Free Speech, Transparency Orgs to FBI: New Intelligence Records Not Exempt From Privacy Act
NCAC has joined OpenTheGovernment.org and other allies in protesting a new FBI proposal to exempt its new system of records from parts of the Privacy Act.
NCAC Supports Letter Protesting Effort to Request US Visitors’ Social Media Info.
NCAC is one of 28 signatories on a letter sent by the Center for Democracy & Technology to the DHS urging the rejection of a proposal to ask foreign travelers about their social media presence.
The Censored Truth of a Guantanamo Prisoner
Published in January, The Guantanamo Diary is an intense account of Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s excruciating experiences as a prisoner of the U.S. war on terror. Slahi was detained in his native Mauritania in 2001; a CIA rendition plane flew him to Jordan for brutal interrogation sessions, and from there he was taken to Afghanistan and then finally to the infamous [...]
The Censored Truth of a Guantanamo Prisoner
Published in January of this year, The Guantanamo Diary is an intense account of Mohamedou Ould Slahi's excruciating experiences as a prisoner of the U.S. war on terror. Slahi was detained in his native Mauritania in 2001 before a CIA rendition plane flew him to Jordan for brutal interrogation sessions. From there, Slahi was flown to Afghanistan and then finally [...]
Holding Publishers Liable: What’s Wrong with the SAVE Act
Congressional efforts to punish online sex trafficking are overbroad, counterproductive and will chill free speech.
NCAC Co-signs Letter to US Senate Expressing Concerns Over SAVE Act
(Update: NCAC signed on to another letter in January 2015 organized by the Center for Democracy & Technology.) NCAC and other organizations concerned with human rights sent the below letter to the Unites States Senate to convey strong opposition to S.2536, the "Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation" (SAVE) Act. While we believe that Congress should provide additional funding for victims [...]
The Top 40 Free Speech Defenders of 2014
"Complacency is ever the enabler of darkest deeds." Robert Fanney recognized, as we do at NCAC, that silence and apathy lead to repression and censorship. In our 40th anniversary year, we celebrate the artists, authors, students, educators, librarians, lawmakers, celebs du jour, and yes, even corporations, who refused to remain silent on the top threats to free speech in 2014. [...]
NCAC Joins Letter Calling for Reform of US Government Watchlisting System
In a joint letter to the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division and the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, NCAC and the below signatories question the legality of federal watchlisting practices. The letter deems the current system of labeling thousands of people, including American citizens, as suspected terrorists as "bloated and unfair." The signatories [...]
EFF Debunks NSA Mass Surveillance Apologists
Free Expression Network member EFF have posted "The Top 5 Claims That Defenders of the NSA Have to Stop Making to Remain Credible" and it's a scathing takedown of anyone relying on these old chestnuts to prop up an argument for continued mass surveillance.
NSA Surveillance Reform Bill Makes For Tentative Progress
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to limit NSA’s mass surveillance. The USA Freedom Act has the support of some groups pressing for reform which characterize it as an important first step in curbing the government’s bulk collection of private records, while noting that more still needs to be done. See http://newamerica.net/node/109858. Other organizations express concerns that [...]
Secret without Reason and Costly without Accomplishment: Questioning the National Security Agency’s Metadata Program
Mueller, John & Mark G. Stewart, "Secret without Reason and Costly without Accomplishment: Questioning the National Security Agency's Metadata Program," I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society (2014) Download a PDF. Excerpt When Edward Snowden’s revelations emerged in June 2013 about the extent to which the National Security Agency was secretly gathering communications data as part of the country’s [...]
Vermont legislation would “refuse material support” for NSA mass data collection
Similar legislation has been introduced in 12 states. From Truthout.org: On Tuesday, January 28th, a transpartisan group of four Vermont state representatives introduced legislation that would block some of the practical effects of mass data collection by the National Security Agency (NSA). Rep. Teo Zagar (D-Windsor-4-1), along with co-sponsor Reps. Susan Davis (P/D-Orange-1), Patricia Komline (R-Bennington-Rutland) and William Stevens (I-Addison-Rutland) [...]
NSA’s collection of metadata “should end,” according to new report
Responses to recent disclosures about official surveillance of private communications and activities are rolling in. The most recent is from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which today released a Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and on the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The PCLOB is an independent [...]
TomDispatch on Surveillance Abuses, Past and Present
This is a good, concise history of abuses by the intelligence community and offers a great argument against warrantless surveillance. Without that break-in by the Media 8, J. Edgar Hoover’s “shadow FBI,” a criminal conspiracy at the heart of a developing national security state, might never have been revealed. (The CIA, officially banned from domestic spying on Americans, turned out [...]
NCAC joins 53 other organizations to oppose the FISA “Improvements” Act – Add your voice today!
Fifty-four civil liberties and public interest groups sent a letter to Congressional leadership today opposing S. 1631, the FISA Improvements Act. The bill, promoted by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), seeks to legalize and extend NSA mass surveillance programs, including the classified phone records surveillance program confirmed by documents released by Edward Snowden this summer. From EFF’s blog post on the [...]
Federal Judge Rules NSA Program Likely Unconstitutional
Yesterday, a federal judge issued an order holding that the National Security Agency's tracking and collecting cellphone "metadata" without a warrant is "almost certainly" unconstitutional under the 4th Amendment. The court issued a preliminary injunction against the NSA's tracking cellphone information of the named plaintiffs. This is the first serious legal fallout from the disclosures by Edward Snowden last summer [...]