Edward Snowden (1983 - )

Tue Jun 21, 1983

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Image: Edward Snowden speaks about the NSA leaks in an interview with reporter Glenn Greenwald at the hotel The Mira Hong Kong. [Wikipedia]

Edward Snowden, born on this day in 1983, is an American whistleblower who leaked highly classified information from the NSA in 2013 when he was working as a CIA employee, exposing multiple governments’ widespread surveillance programs.

Snowden’s disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments, prompting a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy.

In 2013, the United States Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property, revoking his passport. Two days later, he flew into a Moscow Airport, where Russian authorities noted that his U.S. passport had been canceled, and he could not leave the airport terminal for over one month.

Russia later granted Snowden the right of asylum with an initial visa for residence for one year, and he continues to reside there on extension today.

“Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give to an American.”

- Edward Snowden

  • UsernameHere@lemy.lolEnglish
    11·
    5 hours ago

    And the information he shared with the Gaurdian was from his time at the NSA, not the CIA.

    This means he has more information than just a CIA agent.

    You make it sound like he was James Bond

    How so? All I did was point out that espionage verifiably exists and that it is the most logical explanation for Snowden to flee to Russia, given the fact that no US intelligence worker would be welcomed there unless they were leveraging their knowledge.

    Instead of maintaining his position with the NSA so he could continue to feed Russia national security secrets, he decided the best thing to do was to blow up his cover by sharing his knowledge of the U.S.'s mass surveillance program, not with Russia, but with journalists.

    Snowden “sharing his knowledge of the U.S.'s mass surveillance program”, had a negative impact on US citizens view of government, which has always been a goal of Russian espionage and psyop campaigns. You’re just reinforcing what I’ve already said.

    Russia has Trump running the US as president. You think they can’t afford to expose Snowden to achieve their goals?

    Just because Snowden shared his knowledge with journalists doesn’t mean he went to them first let alone exclusively.

    None of your points hold up to scrutiny.

    Snowden travelled from China (another enemy of US that’s working with Russia) to Russia with the end goal of going to Ecuador. All the US did was cancel his passport.

    Russia could’ve treated Snowden the same as they do with anyone else who doesn’t have a passport. But for obvious reasons, they don’t.