Manhunt for French magazine massacre suspects aided by new law expanding social-media surveillance
As a manhunt continued in France on Thursday for two of the three suspects authorities said are responsible for a shooting massacre Wednesday at the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, law enforcement is being aided by a controversial new law.
Enacted in 2013, it offers more leeway to collect real-time information from phone and Internet use, including banking information, with minimal judicial review, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Approval by a government appointee is all that is required for police to demand information from websites and telecommunications companies.
Such “digital breadcrumbs” are the gold standard for conducting manhunts, the newspaper notes, and France does not hesitate to collect them.
“The French regime and the U.K. regime give a lot of latitude to the intelligence agencies to get data for national security reasons,” attorney Winston Maxwell of Hogan & Hartson’s office in Paris told the newspaper. “France—because it has, unfortunately, a long history of dealing with terrorism—has given a lot of leeway to the national security-type data gathering.”
ABC News, CNN, the New York Times (reg. req.) and USA Today have stories about yesterday’s attack in and around the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the ongoing search for the culprits.
Twelve people were killed, including two police officers and four of the magazine’s cartoonists. One also served as Charlie Hebdo’s editor.
The two suspects being sought, Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, are brothers; CNN says authorities focused on them after finding an identification card for one of the two in an abandoned getaway car. A third suspect, Hamyd Mourad, 18, surrendered earlier and is reportedly cooperating with authorities.
Related coverage:
The Independent: “Paris attack: Charlie Hebdo cartoonist says gunmen threatened to kill her toddler daughter unless she let them into office”
USA Today: “People know the consequences: Opposing view”
See also:
USA Today: “Photos: Daring covers of ‘Charlie Hebdo’”
Washington Post (reg. req.): “News organizations wrestle with whether to publish Charlie Hebdo cartoons after attack”
Bloomberg: “Defiant European Newspapers Publish Cartoon of Muhammad”
Politico: “Internal CNN memo: ‘We are not at this time showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons’”
