New Zealand is under fire for tracking the phone records and movements of a journalist who was ironically writing about potentially illegal government surveillance.
The following is a CPJ Blog post by Sumit Galhotra, CPJ Asia Program Research Associate:
Following reports earlier in the week of 29 July 2013 that New Zealand, with help from U.S. intelligence, may have spied on one of its journalists, Wellington is under fire for tracking the phone records and movement of another journalist. Ironically, this journalist came under surveillance after writing about potentially illegal government surveillance.
After weeks of denial, David Carter, the speaker of the house, acknowledged on Tuesday 30 July that a three-month log of Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance’s phone calls was released to the Henry Inquiry, a parliamentary probe tasked with investigating an April leak of a classified report. The journalist’s movements around the premises of parliament were also tracked through use of her swipe card, a parliamentary agency confirmed, according to local reports.
Read the full story on CPJ’s website.
