Decoder with Nilay Patel Anthropic doesn't trust the Pentagon, and neither should you
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Mar 12, 2026 
Mike Masnick, founder and CEO of Techdirt and longtime tech policy reporter, joins to unpack Anthropic's clash with the Pentagon. He explores how surveillance law evolved, how agencies stretch legal language, and why cloud and third‑party data erode privacy. The conversation digs into Anthropic's red lines, supply‑chain coercion, and the legal framing around compelled code changes.
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How Words Were Rewritten To Justify Mass Surveillance
- The U.S. intelligence community repeatedly reinterprets ordinary words to expand surveillance powers.
- Mike Masnick traces this through the Patriot Act, FISA court secrecy, and Executive Order 12333 enabling broad NSA collection and retention.
Executive Order 12333 Created A Backdoor To U.S. Data
- Executive Order 12333 and FISA practices let the NSA collect communications that merely 'touch' foreign territory and then retain U.S. persons' data.
- Messages routed overseas or mentioning a foreign person become fair game for storage and later searches.
One Sided Courts And Fear Made Surveillance Norms
- Lack of adversarial review enabled lawyers to stretch legal interpretations without meaningful pushback.
- The FISA court's secret, one-sided process and political pressure after 9/11 helped normalize expansive surveillance.