The Secret Court Order Directing Telecommunications Company

According to BBC News, an incident broke out where national security and the freedom of the press conflicted when Edward Snowden released sensitive NSA information about government operations. BBC News describes the incident by saying, â€Å"The scandal broke in early June 2013 when the Guardian newspaper reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans. The paper published the secret court order directing telecommunications company Verizon to hand over all its telephone data to the NSA on an ‘ongoing daily basis’.† (BBC News). Later in the same article, BBC News stated, â€Å"Shortly afterwards, the Guardian revealed that ex-CIA systems analyst Edward Snowden was behind the†¦show more content†¦The constitutional answer to the aforementioned questions is no; the press has the ability and freedom to publish and release whatever they see fit. However, lives are at risk. Through acade mic and philosophical inquiry, it will be made clear that national security should be valued higher than freedom of the press when the national security and the freedom of the press conflict. Before delving into the reasons to value national security above the freedom of the press, it is first crucial to provide a definition of national security. According to USLegal Definitions, national security is defined as the following: â€Å"National security is a corporate term covering both national defense and foreign relations of the U.S. It refers to the protection of a nation from attack or other danger by holding adequate armed forces and guarding state secrets. The term national security encompasses within it economic security, monetary security, energy security, environmental security, military security, political security and security of energy and natural resources. Specifically, national security means a circumstance that exists as a result of a military or defense advantage over any foreign nation or group of nations, or a friendly foreign relations position, or a defense position capable of successfully protesting hostile or destructive action.†