Internet surveillance: Twitter challenges US government over right to disclose information requests

US-based microblogging platform Twitter has decided to sue the US government. The company says the Department of Justice (DoJ) is only allowing it to release limited information about the government’s national security requests for information about its users, which it says violates its First Amendment rights.

According to Twitter’s complaint, it submitted a draft transparency report to the US government in April. Five months later, the company was told that information included in the report was classified and could not be publicly released as it didn’t comply with the government’s framework for reporting data about government requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the National Security Letter (NSL) statutes.

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Climate justice: UN special envoy Mary Robinson on the urgent need for action

Formerly President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson now focuses on climate justice. In July, she was appointed UN special envoy for climate change. She spoke to the IBA’s Director of Content at the IBA Annual Conference in Tokyo, October 2014.

James Lewis (JL): What do we mean when we talk about climate justice?

Mary Robinson (MR): Climate justice essentially links human rights, development and climate change, and recognises, as does the Human Rights Council, that climate change is having huge negative impacts on human rights. Then we also add in what I would call the opportunity side.

Since we’re undermining the livelihoods of the poorest people, their food security and so on, through climate shocks, through the rainy seasons not coming, through long periods of drought and flash flooding, which is happening all over Africa, and other problems in South Asia, we should prioritise the poorest in access to clean energy.

If they get clean energy, they’ll become productive, they’ll largely bring themselves out of the terrible poverty that we’re making worse.

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Climate justice: President Mohamed Nasheed on the plight of the Maldives

President Nasheed shot to worldwide fame in 2009 when he held the first ever underwater cabinet meeting to raise awareness about climate change. And, in 2011, was made the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary, The Island President. He spoke to the IBA’s Senior Reporter at the IBA Annual Conference in Tokyo.

Read an extract from the interview and watch the film here