• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
    • Advertise On IP Watch
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Help

Intellectual Property Watch

Original news and analysis on international IP policy

  • Copyright
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Opinions
  • People News
  • Venues
    • Bilateral/Regional Negotiations
    • ITU/ICANN
    • United Nations – other
    • WHO
    • WIPO
    • WTO/TRIPS
    • Africa
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe
    • Latin America/Caribbean
    • North America
  • Themes
    • Access to Knowledge/ Open Innovation & Science
    • Food Security/ Agriculture/ Genetic Resources
    • Finance
    • Health & IP
    • Human Rights
    • Internet Governance/ Digital Economy/ Cyberspace
    • Lobbying
    • Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer
  • Health Policy Watch

Journalists Surveilled By German Intelligence Agency

28/02/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

The German Federal Intelligence Agency (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND) spied on foreign journalists, according to a report of German magazine “Der Spiegel”. A document obtained by the magazine showed that the BND had taps on at least 50 phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses of journalists from the BBC, Reuters and the New York Times.

Der Spiegel’s report is here.

The new BND building

More than a dozen numbers on the target list belonged to BBC reporters and editors in Afghanistan and London. With regard to the New York Times, the offices in Afghanistan were of interest to the German spooks, as were mobile and satellite phones by Reuters reporters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

The revelations resulted in a heated discussion between government and opposition politicians and journalist organisations in Germany. Clemens Binninger, expert for intelligence agencies for the ruling Christian-Democratic Party (CDU), tried to calm the discussion pointing out that the parliament oversight body for the intelligence services (PKG) had already reacted to the practice, criticized the agency for it and drawn conclusions in an update on the respective legislation.

Adopted in 2016, the new BND law allowed spying on media representatives only in those cases where there was an concrete link to terrorist activities. An additional newly established oversight body would take decisions on individual cases.

The organisation “Reporters without Borders” in Germany sternly rejected Binninger’s comments, calling them an appeasement attempt.

“The coalition parties put up a smokescreen,” Christian Mihr, CEO of Reporter without Borders, said yesterday.

The earlier critical comments from the parliamentary oversight body, Mihr said, were related to media “by-catch” effects (catching small fish along with the big fish in the net) resulting from the indiscriminate mass surveillance activities of the BND. The cases reported by Der Spiegel on the other hand are clear, targeted surveillance activities against journalists and editors.

Reporters without Borders has announced the filing of a complaint before Germany’s constitutional court challenging the new BND law. The new law lacks protection for journalists which is required according to the German constitution.

Martina Renner, head of the Left Party in the parliamentary inquiry of the German Parliament on the revelations of former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, said she hoped that many of the spied-on journalists would support the complaint of Reporters without Borders.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Monika Ermert may be reached at info@ip-watch.ch.

Creative Commons License"Journalists Surveilled By German Intelligence Agency" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: IP Policies, Language, Themes, Venues, Access to Knowledge/ Education, Copyright Policy, Enforcement, English, Europe, Human Rights, Regional Policy, Trademarks/Geographical Indications/Domains

Trackbacks

  1. Journalists Surveilled By German Intelligence Agency – WebLegal says:
    28/02/2017 at 9:08 am

    […] fax numbers and email addresses of journalists from the BBC, Reuters and the New York Times. Go to Source Author: Monika […]

    Reply
  2. Links 28/2/2017: Wine 1.8.7, AWS Goes Belly-up | Techrights says:
    28/02/2017 at 11:55 pm

    […] Journalists Surveilled By German Intelligence Agency […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
My Tweets

IPW News Briefs

Saudis Seek Alternative Energy Partners Through WIPO Green Program

Chinese IP Officials Complete Study Of UK, European IP Law

Perspectives on the US

In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements

US IP Law – Big Developments On The Horizon In 2019

More perspectives on the US...

Supported Series: Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities

Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities Series – Translations Now Available

The Myth Of IP Incentives For All Nations – Q&A With Carlos Correa

Read the TRIPS flexibilities series...

Paid Content

Interview With Peter Vanderheyden, CEO Of Article One Partners

More paid content...

IP Delegates in Geneva

  • IP Delegates in Geneva
  • Guide to Geneva-based Public Health and IP Organisations

All Story Categories

Other Languages

  • Français
  • Español
  • 中文
  • اللغة العربية

Archives

  • Archives
  • Monthly Reporter

Staff Access

  • Writers

Sign up for free news alerts

This site uses cookies to help give you the best experience on our website. Cookies enable us to collect information that helps us personalise your experience and improve the functionality and performance of our site. By continuing to read our website, we assume you agree to this, otherwise you can adjust your browser settings. Please read our cookie and Privacy Policy. Our Cookies and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Global Policy Reporting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.