Guardian editor says daily intimidated over NSA leaks
Iran Press TV
Wed Dec 4, 2013 1:52PM GMT
The editor-in-chief of The Guardian says the paper has come under concerted pressure and intimidation for publishing leaks by US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Alan Rusbridger, who was giving evidence before a parliamentary committee, said the paper was under pressure to stop publishing "stories of huge public interest" which revealed the 'staggering' scale of British and American spy programs.
Rusbridger strongly defended the publication of US and UK spying leaks and said The Guardian 'would not be put off by intimidation, but nor are we going to behave recklessly.'
He told MPs that disclosures from the files had generated a global debate about the powers of state agencies and the weaknesses of the laws.
'In terms of the broader debate, I can't think of a story in recent times that has ricocheted around the world like this has and which has been more broadly debated in parliaments, in courts and amongst NGOs,' he said.
During the hour-long session Rusbridger said stories had been published only after consulting government officials and intelligence agencies such as the FBI, GCHQ, the White House and the Cabinet Office on more than 100 occasions.
He also argued that news organizations that had published stories from the Snowden files had performed a public service and highlighted the weakness of the scrutiny of agencies such as GCHQ and the NSA.
The Guardian editor-in-chief said the leaks were just the tip of the iceberg, adding the paper has published just one percent of the 58,000 files it received from Snowden.
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