With Liberty to Monitor All: How Large-Scale US Surveillance is Harming Journalism, Law, and American Democracy — Report

The 120-page report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union documents how national security journalists and lawyers are adopting elaborate steps or otherwise modifying their practices to keep communications, sources, and other confidential information secure in light of revelations of unprecedented US government surveillance of electronic communications and transactions. The report, based on extensive interviews with journalists, lawyers, and senior US government officials, documents how government surveillance and secrecy are undermining press freedom, the public’s right to information, and the right to counsel, all human rights essential to a healthy democracy.