Has The NSA Scandal Resulted In Self-Censorship And Privacy Fears Among Writers

Report: Government Spying Causing Self-Censorship, Privacy Fears Among US Writers -- CBS

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – In the wake of revelations about intrusive government surveillance, many American authors are worrying about the freedom of the press and some simply are avoiding controversial topics.

A new report from the PEN Center and the FDR Group entitled “Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self-Censor” finds that 85 percent of surveyed writers are worried about government surveillance of Americans, and nearly three-quarters (73 percent) “have never been as worried about privacy rights and freedom of the press as they are today.”

Sixteen percent of writers have avoided writing or speaking about certain topics due to threatening privacy concerns, and an additional 11 percent have seriously considered such avoidance.

Writer comments included statements such as, “I assume everything I do electronically is subject to monitoring.”

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My Comment: I have practiced self-censorship a few times on this blog .... more to the point .... I have never posted any story that I knew would endanger national security and/or the lives of soldiers in a war zone. For this blog I have a simple rule .... I go to bed every night at peace with what I have posted in this blog .... a collection of war/defense/intelligence news posts .... and maybe a commentary or two on a story or news item that interests me. But I must also confess that recently I do have that feeling that "Big Brother" is watching me .... and that if I do become a nuisance .... a complaint or two may result in Google shutting down this blog because I may have "offended" someone. Does this stop me from writing .... absolutely not. But it is true .... these feelings have been growing in the past few months. Call it the "NSA bug" .... and I hope that it will pass away soon.