Is Glenn Greenwald Truly a Cybercriminal?

Glenn Greenwald is a controversial figure in Brazil. Source: Flickr.

The Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award- winning American journalist Glenn Greenwald was charged with criminal association and illegal interception of information by the Brazilian government this past week; he is also accused of  hacking into the phones of public officials. Co-founder of The Intercept, a news organization, and a strong critic of Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, Greenwald published articles based on leaked text messages that concerned alleged corruption amongst some of Brazil’s top government officials, including Justice Minister Sérgio Moro. The messages brought into question Moro’s impartiality as a judge, as well as the integrity and motives of some of the top leaders with power in Brazil. 

“Mr. Greenwald’s articles did what a free press is supposed to do: they revealed a painful truth about those in power” stated an editorial in the New York Times, one of the many news outlets that expressed backlash to what was thought of as a politically motivated move to criminalize journalism. “Sadly, assailing a free and critical press has become the cornerstone of the new breed of illiberal leaders in Brazil.”

Although Greenwald has stated that he “will not be intimidated by any attempts to silence journalists” and that he is “working right now on new reporting and will continue to do so”,  President Bolsonaro has stated that he “does not believe in basic press freedoms”, reflecting the polarizing effect of much of Greenwald’s work. The two extremes of the spectrum are showcased in the heavy support given to him by leftists and serious condemnation by members of the Bolsonaro administration, who believe Greenwald facilitated the commision of a crime. 

This past week, however, a Brazilian judge officially rejected the charges against Greenwald, but he did not respond to the whole case with passive acceptance. Instead, Greenwald came out with more ambition to attempt to create a better supreme court ruling “that will enduringly protect the right of free press against further assaults from the Bolsonaro government.” 

He also did not express any thoughts on stopping his work, saying, “we are going to continue to do the reporting on the archive that provoked these criminal charges in the first place.” While Greenwald was pardoned, the same judge did accept six other cases against journalists who reported leaked messages, highlighting an issue of censorship in Brazil and showing that Greenwald’s case might not have been an exception, but his pardoning was.