华邮记者被搜索

今晨读到一则令人不安的新闻：美国联邦调查局（FBI）依搜索令，前往《华盛顿邮报》记者 Hannah Natanson 位於维吉尼亚州的住所执行搜索，并带走她的手机、两台笔电与智慧手錶等电子设备。 

官方说法指向一宗「机密文件／非法洩密」调查：案件核心是一名五角大厦承包商（法院文件所涉人士），被控非法保留与处理机密资料；司法部长 Pam Bondi 也在社群媒体表示，此举与打击非法洩密、维护国安有关。 

然而，更刺痛人心的是：多家新闻自由团体与《华邮》本身都形容这是「罕见、强势」的手段，担忧它会让消息来源噤声，让记者的採访空间被恐惧与监控吞噬。因為一旦「採访」可被等同於「证据链的一环」，那麼追问真相的人，便可能被迫在法理与良知之间步步后退。 

国家安全固然重要，但新闻自由也同样是民主社会的脊梁。今日之搜索，提醒我：一个社会的强大，不只在於能守住祕密，更在於能否容纳提问、允许监督、保护说真话的人。

A Washington Post Reporter Searched

This morning I read a troubling report: the FBI, acting on a search warrant, went to the Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her electronic devices, including her phone, two laptops, and a smartwatch.

Officials say the action is tied to a leak investigation involving classified materials—an effort, they argue, to protect national security and deter unlawful disclosures.

But what unsettles many people is the method itself. Press-freedom advocates and the newspaper have described it as an unusually aggressive step that could intimidate sources and chill reporting. When a reporter’s tools of work—phones, notes, and devices—can be treated as part of an evidence chain, the boundary between pursuing truth and being pulled into the machinery of prosecution starts to blur.

National security matters. Yet press freedom is also a pillar of democracy. Today’s search is a reminder: a society’s strength is not only measured by how well it can guard secrets, but also by whether it can tolerate questioning, allow oversight, and protect those who seek the truth.