Pro-Democracy Activist Captured By NSA In World’s First PRISM Raid

The NSA have confirmed their first ever capture of a pro-democracy target under the controversial surveillance operation, PRISM.  It has been three years since NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden shed light on the PRISM operation when he leaked a trove of documents outlining the U.S. government’s various methods for spying on American citizens. PRISM was explained as a clandestine surveillance operation under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from at least nine major US internet companies. Tony Fullman of New Zealand appears to be the world’s first individual targeted by the NSA under this operation. Theintercept.com reports: The extraordinary covert operation, revealed Sunday by Television New Zealand in collaboration with The Intercept, was launched in 2012 after New Zealand authorities believed they had identified a group planning to violently overthrow Fiji’s military regime. As part of the spy mission, the NSA used its powerful global surveillance apparatus to intercept the emails and Facebook chats of people associated with a Fijian “thumbs up for democracy” campaign. The agency then passed the messages to its New Zealand counterpart, Government Communications Security Bureau, or GCSB. One of the main targets was Fullman, a New Zealand citizen, whose communications were monitored by the NSA after New Zealand authorities, citing [...]