British Spy Chief Calls For Crackdown On Internet Freedom

[911 Inside Joke]

British Spy Chief Calls For Crackdown On Internet Freedom
Says 'plotters, proliferators and paedophiles' make surveillance-free
internet a 'utopian dream'

by Steve Watson | Infowars.com | October 21, 2014

The outgoing head of the GCHQ, the NSA's UK equivalent, has slammed
proponents of a free internet as 'dreamers', and defended those who spy
on the communications of everyday people, saying they do "an
extraordinary job."

In a farewell speech at the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall, Sir Iain
Lobban demanded that GCHQ needs the power to "access the Internet at
scale" and "dissect it with surgical precision".

He said that the internet has become home to the "worst aspects of human
nature," and that spies need to be given unfettered power to govern the
internet, to weed out "plotters, proliferators and paedophiles."

Lobban described the idea of the internet as a "totally ungoverned
space" as a "flawed utopian dream," and said that GCHQ employees have
been "insulted time and again" by claims that they are implementing a
mass surveillance police state.

"You can't pick and choose the components of a global interception
system that you like - catching terrorists and paedophiles - and those
you don't - incidental collection of data at scale: it's one integrated
system." Lobban argued, suggesting that spying on everyday citizens is a
necessary factor of catching evildoers.

"Unfortunately, there's no badguy.com" he added. "We need strong
intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify them and, where
international law enforcement doesn't work, to disrupt them directly.
This combination is increasingly essential." Lobban urged.

"From what we know of ungoverned spaces in the real world, do we really
believe that the world would be a better place if the Internet becomes
an ungoverned space where anybody can act freely with impunity?" he
stated.

Last year whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that GCHQ has for years
been covertly gathering data from British telecommunication companies,
without their consent or knowledge, using a hi-tech computer system
code-named Tempora.

Using Orwellian doublespeak, Lobban argued that by cracking down on
internet freedom, GCHQ is protecting the freedom of citizens.

"I want to make it absolutely clear that the core of my organisation's
mission is the protection of liberty, not the erosion of it. And that
presenting our activities as some sort of binary option - security or
privacy - is to represent a false choice: we are committed to doing our
utmost to deliver security at the same time as protecting privacy to the
greatest extent possible." the spy chief said.

In reference to the operations of GCHQ and NSA, Lobban also argued that
secrecy "does not have to equal sinister."

"For journalists, the public interest is served by publicity itself; for
us, the public interest is served by some things remaining secret." he
said, adding that those working for the agencies are "normal decent
human beings" who make "sacrifices" in their lives.

"They have to look at some highly disturbing images of grotesque things
being done to children, at graphic videos of beheadings. They examine
such things carefully for clues to the perpetrators." he said.

"You can imagine the potential effect of looking at such images day-in,
day-out, and so we have mechanisms to support people in these roles. I
can assure you viewing of such material is not taken lightly. We do it
because our job is to protect your loved ones."

"The people who work at GCHQ would sooner walk out the door than be
involved in anything remotely resembling 'mass surveillance,'" Lobban
concluded, claiming that only a "miniscule" percentage of global emails,
texts and images are stored, viewed or listened to by GCHQ.

The government spy agency has come under increased scrutiny in recent
weeks following fresh efforts at the European court of human rights to
investigate British laws that allow GCHQ and police to secretly snoop on
journalists.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is seeking a ruling that would
describe domestic law as incompatible with provisions in European law
which give journalists the right to keep sources confidential from
police and others.

Addressing GCHQ's relationship with journalists, Lobban stated "We may
get frustrated when our efforts are undone, our enemies advantaged, and
our integrity questioned, but we're not frustrated by the free press
itself. We do what we do precisely to safeguard the kind of society that
has one."

-------------------------------------------

Steve Watson is a London based writer and editor for Alex Jones'
Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in
International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of
Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative
Writing from Nottingham Trent University.