IP: STIMSON CENTER: CENSOR ENVIRO WEB SITES

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 13:45:16 -0500
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
> Subject: from Declan's FC list
>
> I was very troubled by the anti-dissent targeting suggested in this 
> article that Declan included in FC, from the FAS Secrecy newsletter.  I 
> suppose we can use concerns about arbitrary bogeymen to justify just about 
> any action by our government.
>
> > [This is from Steven Aftergood's Secrecy News, published by the
> > Federation of American Scientists and available here:
> > http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html Amy Smithson's bio is here
> > (alas, it lacks an email address for her):
> > http://www.stimson.org/stimson/smithson.htm I invite her or the center to
> > reply. --Declan]
>
> > STIMSON CENTER: CENSOR ENVIRO WEB SITES
> > In a startling plea for official censorship, Amy E. Smithson of the
> > Henry L. Stimson Center last week urged the government to "close down"
> > web sites run by environmental organizations if they publish information
> > about hazardous materials in local communities around the country since
> > such information could be used by terrorists.
> > "In this day and age, Washington can no longer afford to hand any
> > interested individual a road map to the chemical calamities they could
> > cause with the toxic materials located in communities nationwide,"
> > Smithson testified at a House Transportation subcommittee hearing last
> > week on "Right to Know After September 11th." The hearing examined the
> > policies governing public disclosure of chemical hazards at various
> > industrial facilities.
> > In particular, Smithson said, the government must clamp down on those
> > environmental organizations that have published information on hazardous
> > material inventories and accident consequences, including information
> > that has now been withdrawn from government web sites.
> > "Immediately, these interest groups must cease and desist activities
> > that make data on hazardous materials facilities available to widespread
> > public view, removing this data from their websites," she said.
> > "Failing their voluntary cooperation, the US government should take
> > swift steps to close down the pertinent segments of these organizations'
> > websites and take legal steps to prohibit them from distributing this
> > data in the future on the Internet or by other means," Smithson
> > instructed.
> > Dr. Smithson has been widely quoted for her expertise and opinions
> > concerning chemical and biological weapons policy. The Henry L. Stimson
> > Center is a mainstream policy research and advocacy organization whose
> > declared motto is "Practical steps to ideal solutions." But the new
> > censorship proposal hardly fits that description.
> > Smithson's testimony on this point invited disbelief because she
> > blithely made several assumptions that are questionable or simply
> > incorrect, including: (a) there is no countervailing benefit to the
> > independent publication of information about hazardous materials; (b) it
> > is possible for the government to effectively suppress information that
> > has been privately published on the web; and (c) it would be legally and
> > constitutionally permissible to attempt to do so.
> > An opposing view was presented at the hearing by environmentalist
> > Jeremiah Baumann of the advocacy organization US PIRG.
> > "The right to know is a proven tool for increasing public safety," he
> > argued. "Choosing restrictions on the public's right to know about
> > hazards in communities, rather than actually reducing those hazards, can
> > hurt safety rather than help it."
> > Speaking pragmatically, Elaine Stanley of the Environmental Protection
> > Agency outlined the four criteria the EPA has developed for deciding
> > what to publish and what to remove from the Agency's web site.
> > All of the prepared testimony from the November 8 hearing on Right to
> > Know After September 11th may be found here:
> > http://www.house.gov/transportation/water/11-08-01/11-08-01memo.html


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