Link blocking threatens journalism, full stop.

Modern Journalism couldn’t happen without the power to link freely. And here’s just one example to show us the gravity of the situation: Last year, U.S. journalist and privacy activist Barrett Brown was sentenced to over five years in jail. He had initially been indicted in 2012 on charges stemming from links he posted online. The links he posted–which he was later proven never even to have opened–pointed to material sourced from a hack on StratFor, a shady intelligence contractor with close ties to the U.S. government and many large corporations. Those charges were later dropped, but Brown was eventually sent to jail for obstructing the FBI investigation into the links he’d posted online. Ironically, he wouldn’t have felt a need to hide his laptop when the FBI came knocking had they not come knocking in the first place.

It’s probable that the U.S. government dropped their charges against Brown’s linking activity to avoid losing their case--the material Brown pointed to was clearly of journalistic importance and was already publicly available on WikiLeaks.

Nevertheless, Brown finds himself in jail, and was recently stripped of email privileges in retaliation for talking to journalists. On paper, his punishment may be for one set of activities, but effectively, it’s clear that the government threw the book at Brown because of his activism.

The most chilling part of this saga, however, was the U.S. government’s assertion that simply linking to material is akin to being responsible for that material. In fact, by linking to the material, Brown had simply been talking about the material and pointing people to where they could examine it as a source.

Journalists’ sources often point them to leaked material that is in the public interest. Sometimes, this vital information has been obtained illegally, yet its publication serves the common good.

By indicting Brown for hyperlinking to content he had no control over, the U.S. government set a chilling precedent for journalists around the world: “link to material we don’t like, and we will throw the book at you.” Even if you’re eventually found innocent, that’s not a threat that any journalist would take lightly.

Empowering authorities to punish people for linking to any material, whether offensive, copyright-infringing, or otherwise, has immense potential to chill freedom of speech and prevent journalists from doing their job.

We won’t stand for it. This is just one of the reasons why OpenMedia is building a global network of Internet users and organizations that will stand up for our Right to Link, and prevent abuses like the case against Barrett Brown.

Stay tuned for more updates.