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EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: David Miranda

19 August 2013

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"A little over two months ago I was contacted by a very senior government official claiming to represent the views of the prime minister. There followed two meetings in which he demanded the return or destruction of all the material we were working on. The tone was steely, if cordial, but there was an implicit threat that others within government and Whitehall favoured a far more draconian approach.
The mood toughened just over a month ago, when I received a phone call from the centre of government telling me: "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back." There followed further meetings with shadowy Whitehall figures. The demand was the same: hand the Snowden material back or destroy it. I explained that we could not research and report on this subject if we complied with this request. The man from Whitehall looked mystified. "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more."
and: "one of the more bizarre moments in the Guardian's long history occurred – with two GCHQ security experts overseeing the destruction of hard drives in the Guardian's basement".

See the full report: David Miranda, schedule 7 and the danger that all reporters now face - As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge – and the Guardian offices – have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing (Guardian, link), Interesting article by Guardian Editor, Alan Rusbridger, which includes details of the pressure put on the newspaper.

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