[saulrh]

Use of force requires transparency and regulation to avoid corruption. That's why we have things like a separate judiciary, warrants, publicly available court documents, freedom of information requests, and so on and so forth. The use of force is also minimized wherever possible; warrants restrict the scope, both for arrests and searches, and are filtered through the aforementioned public and separate judicial system. Then we have things like the Posse Comitatus Act and use-of-force guidelines encouraging or mandating diplomatic and less-lethal attempts when possible and limiting force to dedicated peacekeepers.

Governments have been using their digital force violently, indiscriminately, and secretly. None of those are acceptable even on their own and all three together is outrageous.