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
    13·
    9 hours ago

    How do you know he published all the information he has? There is no way of knowing that.

    Even if it was, Russia has shown time and time again that they torture the people they detain even when there isn’t intel to be gained. They aren’t doing that to Snowden though.

    • pjwestin@lemmy.world
      22·
      9 hours ago

      This is the same nonsense Fox News pundits were pushing at the time. There is no evidence that he took anything other than the documents he shared with the Guardian. Wildly speculating that he’s sharing state secrets, which we have no evidence he has, with Russia, a country he never intended to visit beyond a layover, is an extraordinary claim and requires extraordinary evidence. “He’s not being tortured,” is not extraordinary evidence.

      • UsernameHere@lemy.lolEnglish
        14·
        8 hours ago

        I never said he took more documents.

        He was a CIA agent. That means he has information other than documents that could be of use to Russia.

        You are bending over backwards to handwave the most logical answer: Snowden was/is working for Russia

        • pjwestin@lemmy.world
          21·
          7 hours ago

          He was a CIA agent. That means he has information other than documents that could be of use to Russia.

          He was entry-level cybersecurity officer for the CIA. You make it sound like he was James Bond, but he was closer to an IT professional. And the information he shared with the Gaurdian was from his time at the NSA, not the CIA.

          You are bending over backwards to handwave the most logical answer: Snowden was/is working for Russia

          Let’s walk through your, “most logical,” answer. Snowden was a Russian agent. 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. Once he had thoroughly and publicly destroyed his career, he traveled to Russia to share additional classified materials and/or information, and his passport was coincidentally canceled en route.

          That’s the simplest explanation to you? Because to me, the simplest explanation is that he was a whistle-blower, and the Obama administration decided it would be better to strand him in a hostile, authoritarian country rather than allow him to reach his intended destination.

          • 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.