Win18_Phil302 Cyberethics’s Updates

Lesson 10: High Profile Case Studies

Module 6 Lesson 10: High Profile Case Studies

We will now look at two historic cases of Whistleblowing, one that used IT to inform the world about alleged abuses in the Iraq war and one that warned of abusive use of IT by the National Security Agency (NSA).  Both of these cases are still ongoing and even when they are settled, the repercussions will resonate for some time. 

Case 1, Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks

Chelsea Manning (then Bradley Manning) was a US Army intelligence analyst who provided WikiLeaks with hundreds of thousands of Army reports, diplomatic cables, and videos relating to the Iraq war  and the Afghanistan war  in January of 2010.  The one item that received the most media attention was the release of a video now entitled “Collateral Murder,” which shows gun camera footage from an incident in Baghdad on July 12, 2007, where two American helicopter gunships fire on a group of ten men.  The group included two Reuters employees who were there to photograph and American Humvee that was under attack by a militia group.  The Reuters cameramen were killed in the attack as were a large number of the men around them and two children were also injured as they were passengers in a van that arrived to try to help the wounded.  This video was what put Wikileaks into the spotlight.  Chelsea’s leaking of this video and the other documents were found out and later in 2010 she was arrested.  A high profile trial ensued and in 2013 she was charged with 22 offenses, 10 of which she plead guilty to and found guilty of 7 more.  She avoided the death penalty but was sentenced to 35 years in maximum security, though she is eligible for parole once 8 of those years are served.  Her stated motive for releasing this material was that she believed, “…[t]his is one of the most significant documents of our time removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century asymmetric warfare” Manning, January 9, 2010.  Others have claimed it was treason and an attempt to aid the enemies of the United States.  Let’s try to form our own opinions of this case, please view the “collateral Murder video above and then watch at least one of the presentations in this video from a conference held on the ethical and legal nature of what Chelsea did.

 

Case 2, Edward Snowden: hero or traitor?

Edward Snowden’s case is a very complicated one.  We can find reasoned arguments that claim he is a hero, traitor, dissident, whistleblower, ethically motivated, and unethically self-serving. We are not going to settle that issue here and the case continues to evolve, but this case is too important not to have an understanding of it, at least in general terms. 

Snowden was an IT professional who had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).  In addition to this he worked for Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton to do contract work for the National Security Agency (NSA).  In 2013 he leaked thousands of classified documents to various media outlets which contained many thousands of files form American Australian and British intelligence services along with hundreds of thousands of documents from the department of defense.  These documents were leaked to reporters such as Glenn Greenwald from The Guardian and Barton Gellman from The Washington Post, along with the controversial documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras.  The articles that these reporters began writing using this material began to appear May 20, 2013 while Snowden was traveling in Hong Kong.  This was the beginning of his self-imposed exile form the United States due to his fear of retribution if he were to return.  At this time he is living in Russia under the protection of the Russian government from extradition to the US. 

The many articles that have now been written on the evidence provided from this material have proven that the NSA has been involved in surveillance of US citizens on an unbelievably massive scale. Snowden has shown that through new advances in IT, the NSA has been able to compile massive amounts of data on nearly everyone who has made a call into or out of the United States.  The extent of this activity is incredibly wide, there is evidence that the NSA spied on foreign corporations, and heads of state, not only of the enemies of the US but its allies as well.  The spying included some strange targets including users of the online games “Second Life” and “World of Warcraft.”  These examples only scratch the surface of the revelations and more is learned every day.

To get a better handle on all this lets first read this article, How Edward Snowden went from loyal NSA contractor to whistleblower, The Guardian February 1, 2014.

Let’s now look at two sides of the debate.  Please read Edward Snowden is a hero, and then Edward Snowden is no hero.

Finaly, let’s hear from Snowden himself in this TED talk: Here’s how we take back the Internet.

 

Assignment 16, writing reflection (200 to 400 words) posted to the comments box below—We have looked at two complicated cases of whistleblowing that have had worldwide impact.  Where do you stand at this time in relation to the value of whistleblowing, our capacity to protect whistleblowers, and whether or not these two cases are an example of ethically motivated whistleblowing? 

 

  • Cassandra Abad
  • Ashey Narciso
  • Jonna Elvin
  • Cody Bryant-Zygowski
  • John Sullins
  • Lucia Pulido
  • Samantha Noriega
  • Caitlyn Balich
  • Haley Nicholson
  • Samantha Levy