Against a Crude Balance: Platform Security and the Hostile Symbiosis Between Liberty and Security

The idea that one must strike a balance between liberty and security hangs over America’s entire debate on how legal authorities should deal with security problems, especially with the challenges posed by terrorism and the Internet. Ben Wittes suggests, however, that the relationship between liberty and security is, more accurately, one of “hostile symbiosis,” where the two are both mutually dependent and mutually threatening.