By Bob Goodlatte and John Conyers, Jr.
As a steady flow of information about the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures
has been revealed, we have watched with shock and increasing concern as
American lives and our values have been threatened by a narcissistic
dictator. As the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary
Committee, we don’t agree on every issue—but we are in complete
agreement that our national response to this chilling threat must be
clear and unequivocal, so that we continue to zealously protect our
freedoms and principles, most notably the freedom of speech.
The F.B.I. has confirmed our suspicions that a group known as “The
Guardians of Peace”—a front group for the North Korean government and
its dictator, Kim Jong Un—hacked into Sony’s internal emails, released a
trove of embarrassing and salacious communications, and divulged
sensitive information about Sony employees because the North Korean
government did not approve of its movie, The Interview. On December 16,
the hackers escalated their cyber-war by threatening physical harm to
those who intended to see the movie itself, which led to Sony initially
canceling the release of the movie. However, Sony has now decided to
release it to a limited number of theaters.
This is not the
first time terrorist groups and foreign governments have used
intimidation to attempt to destroy our freedoms and way of life. On the
eve of World War II, the German government issued various threats to
prevent Charlie Chaplin from directing and producing The Great Dictator,
a thinly veiled satire of the antics and excesses of Adolph Hitler and
Benito Mussolini. Paramount Pictures ultimately released the movie to
great popular and critical acclaim, both in the U.S. and abroad.
The 9/11 attacks
were aimed at New York and Washington because the terrorists wanted to
shut down our nation’s centers of finance and government. However,
Americans stood unified and sent a clear and resolute signal that we
would not be intimidated. Our nation’s airports quickly reopened, as
did Wall Street and the Pentagon, and Congress continued to represent
the will of the American people without pause.
The cyber-attacks
and terror threats associated with The Interview represent the latest
twist on earlier efforts at intimidation - the combination of the threat
of physical violence with the use of the modern tools of cyber warfare
and social media. A tyrant who severely oppresses his own people has
used technology to both infiltrate a company and threaten physical harm
to Americans who choose to watch a film that doesn’t meet his approval.
Whether or not we like the plot, production, or tone of a creative
product, each and every one of us has a stake in ensuring that our
freedom of speech is not abridged by either our own government or by a
foreign government.
The United States must stand firm against
this type of aggressive attack on our freedom of speech. Otherwise these
actions will have a chilling effect on the availability of information
and creative works in the future and will embolden North Korea and other
copycats to act again. We must not allow terrorists and foreign
governments to dictate what Americans can or cannot say, watch, produce,
or distribute.
Ultimately, this and other cyber-attacks point to
the need for a robust national security apparatus, including strong
cybersecurity, to protect Americans not just from bodily harm, but from
threats aimed at restricting our freedoms. Congress and the
Administration should work to ensure that we have in place the
appropriate sanctions against North Korea and that we are using all
available tools to combat attacks like this. The more we can do to
detect and intercept threats from our enemies, the more we will be able
to protect our cherished liberties.
The threat to Americans who
wish to see this film is not the last time that thugs and tyrants will
seek to challenge our character and our creativity. But we are united
in our resolve to defend our freedoms against all threats, foreign and
domestic. In the past, we have stood together—ignoring the petty and
partisan differences that too often divide us. Again, we must stand
together to send the strong message that the United States will never
yield to those wishing to silence our freedoms.
Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©
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