*Australian PM Anthony Albanese urges US government to end pursuit of Julian Assange.* Assange has been hounded for over a decade using a series of dirty tricks and twisting of the law. But this injustice has a bigger target than Julian Assange. Its main target is the freedom of the press to report on crimes committed by governments.

Democracy depends on whistleblowers, and it depends on journalists to publish what whistleblowers report. The prosecution puts democracy too in danger.

Massive surveillance is part of the threat to democracy. That is why we must limit the collection of databases of personal data, not merely regulate how the data are used.