FBI Official Compares Encryption Guru Moxie Marlinspike To The KKK, Refuses To Discuss Him

from the well,-that's-one-plan dept

By now, hopefully, you already know about Moxie Marlinspike, the security researcher/encryption guru/creator of the important open source encrypted messaging protocol Signal. However, it's still worth reading Andy Greenberg's big profile on Moxie over at Wired (and, no, he still will not reveal his original name or much more about his history). The whole thing is a good read, but there's one crazy part, where Greenberg asks an FBI official for their thoughts on the guy who is making encryption that he deliberately says he hopes will be used to keep the FBI from spying on certain conversations. The FBI, not surprisingly, is not a fan. But, still, it seems like quite a leap to then make an analogy with the KKK:

A spokesman for the FBI, when asked to comment on Marlinspike’s law-breaking philosophy, replied, “The First Amendment protects people who hold whatever view they want. Some people are members of the KKK. I’m not going to engage in a debate with him.”

This is insane on multiple levels. First off, what a weird thing to pull out. Here's someone building tools to help keep the public private and secure. Why would the KKK be the FBI's immediate go to in terms of talking about him? Second, what does any of this have to do with the First Amendment? I guess they're saying that Moxie is free to support the idea that it's good that people can break some laws. But, still, saying the FBI "won't engage in a debate" with Moxie is again missing the point.

I get that many in the law enforcement realm believe (incorrectly) that strong encryption makes us less safe. And, so I can understand that those misguided folks might not like Moxie at all. But it seems like a pretty big leap to go from that to bringing up the KKK.

Filed Under: encryption, fbi, kkk, moxie marlinspike, signal
Companies: whisper systems

Visa & MasterCard: KKK Is A-OK, But Wikileaks Is Wicked

from the starvation-through-political-pressure dept

Well, it looks like we can add Visa to the list of companies pressured into no longer working with Wikileaks, following a similar move by MasterCard. At least, unlike MasterCard, Visa isn't already claiming that Wikileaks was convicted of a crime. Instead, it's just said that it's suspended any work with Wikileaks "pending further investigation into the nature of its business and whether it contravenes Visa operating rules."

As Charles Arthur points out, the Ku Klux Klan's website points you to a site that takes both MasterCard and Visa -- suggesting the pure arbitrariness of both credit card companies' decision here. It's a bad idea when firms start making decisions for political reasons. There are all sorts of companies out there that take credit cards to support objectionable (to many) activities. Is it really the credit card companies' job to pick and choose who they find objectionable to work with -- and if so, what basis does it use for saying "KKK is okay, but Wikileaks is not"?

This reinforces the point we recently made about the role of corporate intermediaries in being able to aid governments in censorship, even in the absence of a trial or conviction. Either way, this is a really sad statement about both Visa and MasterCard and their willingness to cave to government pressure.

Filed Under: censorship, kkk, politics, pressure, wikileaks
Companies: kkk, mastercard, visa, wikileaks