Upcoming Forum “Chilling Democracy: The US Government's War on Whistleblowers and Critics” announced

In recent years, the American government has launched what observers describe as an unprecedented war on whistleblowers and critics. “This is a dangerous development that threatens the very foundations of democracy,”

cautioned Radha Stirling, founder and CEO of Due Process International, who is organising a public forum to address the ongoing weaponization of governmental institutions against dissent.

“We have seen a number of high-profile cases of harassment, bullying, and persecution of journalists and critics,” Stirling said, “There have been vindictive prosecutions of whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, such as Daniel Hale, Reality Winner, Chelsea Manning, and obviously Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. The FBI raided the home of Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe, after his organisation released a number of undercover videos that allegedly exposed government corruption. Agencies under the Department of Homeland Security have been using sensitive government databases to investigate journalists, a practice which has been described as ‘routine.’ It is profoundly troubling, and even more so because it appears to have become absolutely common practice.”