"This is an unfortunate byproduct of nations that don't protect freedom of the press under law," Free Press" senior director of strategy Timothy Karr told Sputnik.
On Monday, the Guardian reported that according to documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had intercepted the emails of US and UK media employees. Moreover, the documents suggest that GCHQ lists investigative journalists as a security threat alongside terrorists and hackers.
"Establishing these principles under law is important," Karr told Sputnik.
He also explained that freedom of the press would be continuously infringed unless nations act to defend freedom of opinion and expression.
"… unless nations and their peoples are willing to defend these principles in practice — by speaking out and pressuring abusive leaders — you'll see more of these sorts of attacks on the practice of journalism," Karr said.
The British GCHQ has repeatedly found itself in the middle of eavesdropping scandals the most recent of which implied an alleged cyberattack of a senior employee at the German Chancellery.
Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said British intelligence agencies should be able to read every form of communications, including those on social networking sites, to prevent major terror attacks.
