Journalist, Terrorist. What's The Difference?

Journalist, Terrorist. What's The Difference?
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Journalists can legally be held just like suspected terrorists for carrying documents through airport security—at least in the United Kingdom.

Wednesday, the UK’s highest court said that the August detainment of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner, was lawful. Miranda was held and questioned at Heathrow Airport for nine hours after he’d arrived in the United Kingdom carrying a cache of encrypted and classified documents given to Greenwald by Edward Snowden.

The judges, led by Lord Justice Laws, said that Miranda’s detainment was “an indirect interference with press freedom” but said that, in this instance, it was warranted because of national security concerns.

That’s not terribly good news for journalists, and let’s be clear—there’s no such thing as an “indirect” interference with press freedom. It either interferes with it, or it doesn't. There’s nothing “indirect” about detaining a journalist, seizing his laptop, DVDs, USB sticks, and cell phone, and holding him for nine hours, especially when you do it under legislation called the “Terrorism Act of Protected content

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