Changes

{{Cquote|no oversight, no requirements for probable cause prior to political spying, and no [[Privacy Act]] or [[Freedom of Information Act]] responsibilities to the public. By contrast, the [[FBI]], [[CIA]], and some major police departments in the U.S. are held accountable by various hard-won legal restrictions.<ref>Brandt, Daniel (July–August 1993). [http://www.namebase.org/news02.html "Cyberspace wars: Microprocessing ''vs.'' Big Brother".] ''NameBase NewsLine'', no. 2.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|no oversight, no requirements for probable cause prior to political spying, and no [[Privacy Act]] or [[Freedom of Information Act]] responsibilities to the public. By contrast, the [[FBI]], [[CIA]], and some major police departments in the U.S. are held accountable by various hard-won legal restrictions.<ref>Brandt, Daniel (July–August 1993). [http://www.namebase.org/news02.html "Cyberspace wars: Microprocessing ''vs.'' Big Brother".] ''NameBase NewsLine'', no. 2.</ref>}}

Walter James O'Brien refers to them as "civilian agencies." <ref group="note">O'Brien, Walter James (1999). [http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf ''Nazism, the Internet and Culture of Violence: A Preliminary Survey toward Preventing a Third World War''], pp. 3, 6-9, 12, 14, 61, 63, 68.  Written to compete for the Trench Gascoigne Prize offered by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies (http://www.rusi.org); retrieved from http://rjayco.com/ 06/10/07.</ref>  And Laird Wilcox uses similar language in discussing their activities,

Walter James O'Brien refers to them as "civilian agencies."<ref group="note"> O'Brien, Walter James (1999). [http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf ''Nazism, the Internet and Culture of Violence: A Preliminary Survey toward Preventing a Third World War''], pp. 3, 6-9, 12, 14, 61, 63, 68.  Written to compete for the Trench Gascoigne Prize offered by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies (http://www.rusi.org); retrieved from http://rjayco.com/ 06/10/07.</ref>  And Laird Wilcox uses similar language in discussing their activities,

{{Cquote|Any citizen can obtain their FBI files through the Freedom of Information Act....There is no such mechanism by which a private American citizen can obtain their files compiled by private Watchdog organizations.... You cannot correct errors...  they may have obtained information that government agencies cannot legally collect on its own. This... is something that goes on all the time and represents a serious civil liberties issue.<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Editorial Research Service, 1999, pg. 15. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|Any citizen can obtain their FBI files through the Freedom of Information Act....There is no such mechanism by which a private American citizen can obtain their files compiled by private Watchdog organizations.... You cannot correct errors...  they may have obtained information that government agencies cannot legally collect on its own. This... is something that goes on all the time and represents a serious civil liberties issue.<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Editorial Research Service, 1999, pg. 15. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref>}}

Some watchdog organizations have been criticized for the misuse of journalist shield laws to mask their domestic spying operations.  Robert J. Friedman of the ''[[Village Voice]]'' commented:

Some watchdog organizations have been criticized for the misuse of journalist shield laws to mask their domestic spying operations.  Robert J. Friedman of the ''[[Village Voice]]'' commented:

{{Cquote|Journalists place information in the public domain where they are held accountable for falsehoods, distortions, and libel. And for the most part, journalists don’t share their files with domestic police agencies... many of [the "watchdog" agency] files are not open to public scrutiny, false information collected by ideologically biased researchers cannot be corrected.<ref>Robert J. Friedman, ''The Anti-Defamation League is Spying On You'', The Village Voice, 11 May 1993.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|Journalists place information in the public domain where they are held accountable for falsehoods, distortions and libel. And for the most part, journalists don’t share their files with domestic police agencies... many of [the "watchdog" agency] files are not open to public scrutiny, false information collected by ideologically biased researchers cannot be corrected.<ref>Robert J. Friedman, ''The Anti-Defamation League is Spying On You'', The Village Voice, 11 May 1993.</ref>}}

Wilcox observes the watchdog's publications are designed to support the ideological agenda of a like minded group, and not provide “news.”  Their publishing activities are only a small part of its program, most of which is fundraising, lobbying, and maintaining enemies lists.<ref>Laird Wilcox, ''The Watchdogs'', 1999, pgs 54-56.</ref> Wilcox, who is cited by the ''Military Law Review'' as one the "foremost expert analysts of right and left-wing extremism",<ref>MAJ Walter M. Hudson, [http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Military_Law_Review/pdf-files/277C75~1.pdf ''Racial Extremism in the Army''], The Military Law Review, Vol 159 (Mar 99), pg. 7, Department of the Army, Washington, DC. Army Pamphlet No 27-100-159.</ref> and has published numerous books and articles on various extreme groups in America since the early 1960s, including ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists and Others'' by Prometheus Books, chronicles the excesses of the watchdog industry, and asks, "Who is watching the Watchdogs?"

Wilcox observes the watchdog's publications are designed to support the ideological agenda of a like minded group, and not provide “news.”  Their publishing activities are only a small part of its program, most of which is fundraising, lobbying, and maintaining enemies lists.<ref>Laird Wilcox, ''The Watchdogs'', 1999, pgs 54-56.</ref> Wilcox, who is cited by the ''Military Law Review'' as one the "foremost expert analysts of right and left-wing extremism",<ref>MAJ Walter M. Hudson, [http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Military_Law_Review/pdf-files/277C75~1.pdf ''Racial Extremism in the Army''], The Military Law Review, Vol 159 (Mar 99), pg. 7, Department of the Army, Washington, DC. Army Pamphlet No 27-100-159.</ref> and has published numerous books and articles on various extreme groups in America since the early 1960s, including ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists and Others'' by Prometheus Books, chronicles the excesses of the watchdog industry, and asks, "Who is watching the Watchdogs?"