In a dangerous era for journalism – people need to stand up to West Dunbartonshire Council

In a dangerous era for journalism – a powerful new tool to protect sources and free speech

Investigative reporting is extremely important to the Guardian; we have been exposing wrongdoing and scrutinising power with complete independence for decades. We know first-hand how impactful investigations depend on trusted reader-reporter interactions. From the Frank Hester revelations to the Pegasus project, Uber files, Pandora papers and the Michelle Mone/PPE Medpro scandal, many of our most powerful recent investigative projects – as well as our biggest stories throughout the decades – have relied on sources feeling confident they can safely share information with the Guardian or our reporting partners. Secure Messaging is the latest tool in our armoury to protect whistleblowers.

Built by our product and engineering team, in partnership with the University of Cambridge’s department of computer science and technology, Secure Messaging is unlike traditional information-sharing platforms. The technology behind Secure Messaging conceals the fact that messaging is taking place at all by making the communication indistinguishable from other data sent to and from the app by our millions of regular users. By using the Guardian app, other users are effectively providing “cover” and helping us to protect sources.

Secure Messaging is not just a tool for the Guardian. As part of our commitment to protecting the media and the public interest globally, the Guardian has published the source code for the technology that enables this system. This means that other organisations will be able to use this technology freely to implement secure messaging tools within their own apps.

As an independent organisation, with no billionaire owner or shareholders, we are able to pursue important innovations like this because of the support of readers. If you’re in a position to do so, please consider supporting our work today.

And if you have any information to share with us, you can use Secure Messaging within the Guardian app by clicking on the app menu and scrolling to “Secure Messaging”. For more information on how to share tips with our journalists please read our comprehensive guide.

Thank you,

Katharine Viner
Editor-in-chief, the Guardian

The Dumbarton Democrat has no delusions of grandeur, but we work hard to bring news, entertainment and information to our readers at a time when our rivals are being shut down or moved out of town by their millionaire owners. West Dunbartonshire Council, in all its naivety, has attempted to gag us because I told one of its communications people to “bugger off” when they tried to throw me out of a meeting, which I was said to have interupted. That was a lie. I simply approached the then Provost to request that the sound should be turned up and the meeting room arranged in a fashion where it was possible to see and hear what the councillors and officials were doing in the public’s name. Because I was harsh but fair in my reporting of their affairs, the Council banned me from speaking to their spin doctors. I was not allowed to ask questions of them. That ban still exists. They do not want to be held to account in the traditional manner. The Democrat still reports extensively on council matters and on the Scottish Parliament. But the politcians of all political parties and none don’t like that. It seems they would rather do their business “on the quiet” and only tell the press and public what they want them to know. There has been no democratic decision by the Council in committee or elsewhere to decide this. Tory, Labour and SNP are all in this together. However, I am determined not to be gagged. The Democrat will not be silenced or shut down. We supply completely FREE to the local public and business persons an invaluable service and we do it within the law. Someone, yourself perhaps, should object on our behalf and make certain we obtain unrestricted access to Council matters. You can get in touch with your councillor or the chief executive of West Dunbartonshire Council and let him know the community has had enough of them operating like a banana republic. What they are doing is unconstitutional, scandalous and unfair and belongs in places such as Belarus and not Balloch or Bellsmyre or Brucehill.

Bill Heaney, Editor/owner, The Dumbarton Democrat.