WaPo's PRISM Scoop: Tech Firms 'Participate Knowingly' via Direct Server Access
The Post's first PRISM story said the NSA and FBI were tapping directly into the central servers of nine U.S. internet companies that participated knowingly.
The overstatement cut against the Obama administration and tech firms alike, not one party.
What was reported
The Post's first PRISM story said the NSA and FBI were tapping directly into the central servers of nine U.S. internet companies that participated knowingly.
What actually happened
The companies denied giving direct server access, and the Post quietly revised the story, removing the 'participate knowingly' phrase and adding that the firms may not have known of the program. It cited a report that tasking went to equipment at company-controlled sites and allowed the NSA slide's author may have been imprecise. The broader existence of PRISM was confirmed.
The proof
The Post's own revision of the article the next day, documented by The Next Web and others.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
WaPo's PRISM Scoop: Tech Firms 'Participate Knowingly' via Direct Server Access — Retracted. The Post's own revision of the article the next day, documented by The Next Web and others. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/wapo-prism-direct-access-2013/
Original reporting
- Engadget (secondary): WaPo — NSA, FBI tapping directly into servers of 9 companieshttps://www.engadget.com/2013/06/06/washington-post-nsa-fbi-tapping-directly-into-servers-of-9-lea/
Corrections, findings & records
- The Next Web: WaPo backtracks on 'participate knowingly' claimhttps://www.thenextweb.com/news/wapost-backtracks-on-claim-tech-companies-participate-knowingly-in-prism-data-collection
- Daring Fireball: Washington Post backtrackshttps://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/06/07/wapost-backtrack
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Engadget (secondary): WaPo — NSA, FBI tapping directly into servers of 9 companieshttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.engadget.com/2013/06/06/washington-post-nsa-fbi-tapping-directly-into-servers-of-9-lea/