Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size.
The US government should not be permitted to classify information simply because it could be used to stir anti-American sentiment abroad, the Brennan Center for Justice and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued in an amicus brief filed last week.
Allowing the US to classify information based on the argument that our enemies could use it as “anti-American propaganda” contradicts Executive Order 13526, which prohibits the classification of information to conceal misconduct or prevent embarrassment, and would create a limitless basis for future classification, the brief argues.
“The US has an overclassification problem,” said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the BrennanCenter for Justice. “Too often, the system is used to conceal government misconduct, from illegal warrantless wiretapping to secret CIA torture programs. The government’s propaganda argument would legitimize this practice.”
“It’s vital that courts recognize that the government’s classification authority has limits,” said Mark Rumold, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Left unchecked, the ability to hide unflattering information or illegal conduct from the public threatens to undermine public debate and our democratic processes.”
The brief was filed in Jihad Dhiab, et al v. Barack Obama, et al, a case in which former Guantánamo Bay prisoner, Abu Wa’el Dhiab, sued the US to stop force-feedings. Evidence in the case included video recordings of the force-feedings, which were filed under seal because they were classified. Several press outlets intervened and requestedto see the videos, and the District Court judge ordered them unsealed. The government is now appealing that decision on the grounds that our enemies could use the videos to stoke resentment against the United States.
Read the brief here.
An urgent fundraising appeal: 10 Days to raise $50,000
Truthout is one of only a few platforms for justice-oriented, grassroots journalism. Today, we face an existential threat.
Due to Google’s launch of AI search, we’ve seen a drastic plunge in our site traffic and, as a result, our revenue. We lost 15 percent of our readership overnight. This was a readership we painstakingly built over decades, and it vanished because Google chose corporate greed over a healthy democracy.
We are fundraising right now to meet our basic operating expenses. If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work. Anything you can do makes a difference — we appreciate your support.