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Defense of Weak Position: Technology shouldn’t be used for Anti-Terrorism.
School of Business, Liberty University
CJUS 380, Introduction to Homeland Security
Professor Hailey
April 14, 2025
Defense of Weak Position: Technology shouldn’t be used for Anti-Terrorism
Problem Statement
The United States has, in recent years, increased its use of data-driven and advanced
surveillance to enhance its anti-terrorism efforts. However, these uses of technology can pose a
threat to the individual liberties that we have as Americans. The line is drawn between the
security and protection of the nation, but the borderline overreaches into our constitutional
rights. This paper is meant to defend the Weaker position that tech being used for
counterterrorism is good for America and bad for the freedoms of Americans. The weaker point
of view is that the use of tech encroaches on the liberty of U.S. citizens.
Review of Literature
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Background of the Problem
Technology is being used today, and we all accompany things like phones, facial
recognition, drones, data software, and metadata from search engines and even our social
media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. These technologies say that
they aren’t tracking your information, but the ads we see that are catered to our search and
social history are the very thing that we need to stop. These data points are the same thing
encroaching on our civil liberties. (Zuboff, 2019, Abstract) To further expand on the idea that the
government is increasing its reach too far, the USA PATRIOT ACT gave rights to different agencies
the right to survey and look at communications without the need for lawful procedure. This is
the problem we face as our government and the world move to a digital age. We must find a
balance of power with the protection of the civil rights of the citizens of the United States in
mind.
Supporting Evidence
The evidence of this lies within the policies and the proof of the government’s actions in
relation to people's privacy. The real-life issue is that many agencies within the government
have admitted that they have used software to download data about persons and how they are,
thus affecting their freedoms. For example, “its use by the government is rife with risks for
freedom of speech, assembly, and faith.” (Levinson, Panduranga, Patel, 2022, Para 2) This data,
inevitably, though, can be used for anti-terrorism and has created a space where people are put
into algorithms that cater to their likes or dislikes.
Another piece of evidence, for example,
“Snowden’s information revealed that the US government had forced Verizon, Google,
Facebook, Apple, and other American internet companies to give the NSA access to the data of
millions of their customers.” (Issitt and DiLascio, 2024, Para 16)
This is proof that the U.S. government has taken advantage of the technology that has
been created and sold to encroach on citizens. Overall, these two instances have had a
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longlasting effect on the trust of citizens in the government because, since the creation of
computers and phones, the government has used all available information to gather data.
The evidence that this is wrong can even be tied to biblical principles. For example, “'It is
for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened
again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, New International Version) When you think about the
sacrifice that Jesus made for us to be free you have to see that Christ is telling us that He wants
us to be free and unburdened from slavery. What is freedom if we are not free to have that
privacy? This is why the boundary of technology is so important.
Conclusion
Though anti-terrorism should be a concern of the government, so should the freedom of
privacy of its citizens. The Founding Fathers wanted us to have freedom from a tyrannical
government, as said in principle 11, which is against the rise of a tyrannical government. The
solution to this problem would be to elect morally sound individuals to run the government
agencies that use this data. Instead of technology being used, we should rely on human
intelligence by creating a country-wide community engagement, so we are all in the fight against
terrorism. This would overall provide the preservation of liberty amid terrorist threats. The
citizens and government are to remain free from threats and slavery just as our Heavenly Father
wants, as stated in Galatians and the Founding Fathers.
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References
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism : the fight for a human future at the new
frontier of power (First edition.). PublicAffairs.
Levinson, R., Panduranga, H., & Patel, F. (2022, April 7). Social media surveillance by the U.S.
Government. Brennan Center for Justice.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/social-media-surveillance-
usgovernment
Issitt, M. L., & DiLascio, T. M. (2024, January 1). Government surveillance: Overview: EBSCO.
EBSCO Information Services, Inc. | www.ebsco.com.
https://www.ebsco.com/researchstarters/law/government-surveillance-overview
Galatians 5:1
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GAL.5.1
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