Will Potter
Journalist Will Potter has tracked the attempts made by the US authorities to clamp down on environmental and social dissent.

Al Jazeera news network took a useful look recently at the creeping clampdown on free speech and dissent as governments try to use the “threat of terror” to tighten control.

The imposition of tightening legislation, and the increased militarization of police, often means non-violent protesters and campaigners get caught in the crosshairs. Jail sentences for minor infringements of the law are turning increasingly draconian.

Check out the video below.

Guests: William Potter: an award-winning journalist and author of ‘Green Is The New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege.’

Laura Beth Nielsen: a research professor at the American Bar Foundation and director of the Legal Studies Program at Northwestern University.

Shiraz Maher: a fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London; who is currently leading a research team looking into the flow of foreign fighters going to Syria.

Terrorism: Used or Abused?