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Edward Snowden (1983 - ) 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,... (europe.pub)
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Edward Snowden (1983 - )

Tue Jun 21, 1983

Image

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

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[–] genevieve@lemmy.blahaj.zone -1 points 7 hours ago

Disclosure: Ed Snowden was nearly casual to my death. (Long story.)

He isn’t a hero, at least not anymore.

He made his krevati, he can sleep in it.

[–] mhague@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago

I think it's hilarious that he sacrificed his life to reveal US secrets because he couldn't stomach the idea of widespread domestic spying.

But then in Russia suddenly he cares about his safety again, and he's repeating their propaganda... helping others to get bombed.

But nah, he's American and the people being terrorized by Russia are foreigners. Makes sense he doesn't care and only risks his life for very specific things related to American intelligence.

[–] Stubb@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 17 hours ago

It's all so tiresome, the machine controls you no matter what; any collective effort is futile when everyone is divided. There government runs mass surveillance programs on its on citizens and you're powerless against it; there are people living in hell and there is nothing you can do about it — whose crimes are they paying for? It's to divide, always to divide.

[–] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 45 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I appreciate what he did. I hate that he is in Russia.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 54 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Reminder that the reason is in Russia is because the US trapped him there, that was not his intended destination. The US was leveraging every country they could to prevent Snowden flying anywhere. They ended up cancelling his passport while he was on a flight from Hong Kong to Moscow in transit to a final destination somewhere in Latin America.

So he ended up being stuck in the international terminal in Moscow and not able to even leave the airport since he had no valid passport. Russia and the US do not have an extradition agreement, and the US has always refused to send criminals back to Russia, so they did the same, also citing that his actions would not have even violated Russian law. Eventually over a month later they processed a temporary one year asylum request since he was stuck in Russia anyway. And that was extended until he was granted permanent residency in 2020.

In short the only reason he ended up in Russia is because the US trapped him there.

[–] UsernameHere@lemy.lol -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’ve seen what Russia does to American citizens they detain (atheletes, reporters, teachers, etc.).

It’s telling that Edward Snowden, a former CIA agent, would not get the same or worse treatment in Russia.

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is it really? Seems like a simple case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

[–] UsernameHere@lemy.lol -3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I find it hard to believe that Russia is just being nice to Snowden. Snowden was a former CIA agent. There are many examples of double agents in espionage throughout history, let alone between Russia and the US.

If Snowden isn’t working for Russia then you can guarentee Russia would be torturing him for any information he has. Which they don’t show any signs of doing.

[–] jnod4@lemmy.ca 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

AFAIK he was a contractor for the NSA

[–] UsernameHere@lemy.lol 1 points 16 hours ago

It says in the post that he was working as a CIA employee

[–] fatalicus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why on earth would they do that, when he has already published all the information he had?

[–] UsernameHere@lemy.lol -3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

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 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

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.lol -4 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

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 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

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.lol -1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Right, so again, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You're putting forward the theory that Snowden leaked classified materials to journalists because he was a secret Russian agent, then traveled to Russia to share further information, but only after making himself a target of the United States government. And he was lucky enough to travel there just before his passport was canceled. And the only evidence you have to support this speculation is that Russia, an enemy of the U.S., granted asylum to someone the U.S. wanted to prosecute.

Compare that to Snowden's official story; he flew to Hong Kong because they had autonomy from the U.S. and China (especially before the 2019 crackdowns on protesters) and strong pro-democracy beliefs, where he gave journalists information in order to blow the whistle on the largest domestic spying program in a American history. He then attempted to travel to Ecuador while avoiding countries that would extradite him, but his passport was canceled in Russia, and he was forced to seek asylum there. This story, by the way, has not been contradicted by anyone in the government.

So, if you want to believe the conspiracy theories, that your call, but it's not the simplest explanation. The simplest explanation is the one that's already been given, and until anyone with any credibility can contradict it, I will continue to believe it.

[–] UsernameHere@lemy.lol -1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Your extraordinary claim that Russia isn’t treating Snowden the same as they do any other US citizen is “just because”. That is an extraordinary claim with a laughable explanation.

Lucky enough to travel to Russia? You’re acting like he has no control over what flights he takes. Again without any explanation or even common sense.

Acting like he went to China (a rival to the US) because China is just super trustworthy. Again, a laughable explanation completely out of touch with reality. But hey, if Snowden said it it must be true.

Your conspiracy theories don’t hold up to any scrutiny.

Snowden was a spy. He fled to countries that commit the most espionage against the US because he was a spy. Those countries did NOT treat him like US intelligence agent even though he was, because he was a spy.

[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Your extraordinary claim that Russia isn’t treating Snowden the same as they do any other US citizen is “just because”. That is an extraordinary claim with a laughable explanation.

No, my claim is they're not treating him badly because treating him badly would help the U.S. government. If Alexei Navalny had come to the U.S., don't you think we would have granted him Asylum?

Acting like he went to China (a rival to the US) because China is just super trustworthy. Again, a laughable explanation completely out of touch with reality. But hey, if Snowden said it it must be true.

Again, Snowden went to Hong Kong. I don't have the time or interest to explain Hong Kong's history as a British Colony or the, "one country, two systems," principal, but the short explanation is that Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous region with a pro-democracy government that often clashes with the PRC.

Snowden was a spy.

He really wasn't. He had one assignment in Geneva, where he mostly did cybersecurity work. He had one field mission to recruit a Swiss Banker, and he was not good at it. Calling him a spy is like calling a medical examiner a cop; they work together, but they're not the same job.

Also, if you think Snowden was a Russian spy, don't you think anyone in the government would be eager to prove that? But the opposite happened. The FBI concluded that Snowden probably worked alone. NSA chief Michael Rogers came to the same conclusion. No one thinks he was a Russian spy except a small group of intelligence pundits and hacks.

[–] UsernameHere@lemy.lol -1 points 6 hours ago

If Alexei Navalny had come to the U.S., don't you think we would have granted him Asylum?

Is Alexei Navalny a member of multiple Russian intelligence agencies? Nope.

Does the US have a history of locking up anyone from athletes, reporters, teachers, etc? Nope.

So there is no reason to believe he would have the same outcome as Snowden.

He had one assignment in Geneva, where he mostly did cybersecurity work. He had one field mission to recruit a Swiss Banker, and he was not good at it.

Why do you think you know the inner workings of intelligence agencies? I shouldn’t have to tell you that they are known for sharing as little as possible. It is their job.

Also, if you think Snowden was a Russian spy, don't you think anyone in the government would be eager to prove that?

He’s literally on the run to escape espionage charges…

Both the US and UK have very clearly accused him of being a spy…

[–] VirgilMastercard@reddthat.com 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

To be fair to him, he's been in Russia since like 2013 which was before all the Ukraine stuff really started to blow up. And from a practical point of view, he's probably much safer there than he would be in any US friendly country.

It's unfortunate that his actions in the interests of raising awareness of mass surveillance to the US public were also in the interests of the Russian state, which will be all to happy to see the US government undermined in some way.

Nonetheless, I think he done the right thing.

[–] real_squids@sopuli.xyz 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

After Georgia "stuff" blew up though. And everything before that. And let's be real, you could see who would be their head today even back in 2013.
He deserved better.

[–] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago

I suspect he is in the equivalent of house arrest now, whether officially or otherwise. A pet.

[–] ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A common critique of China and Russia is mass surveillance of their citizens and this is true, China through more in depth social registration and facial recognition, Russia through sorm and isp data retention, etc.

The difference is that Snowden revealed America does much of the same but without any transparency. His leaks forced some - PRISM, XKEYSCORE, MUSCULAR, STELLARWIND, etc are now public knowledge and have congressional oversight. But a lot has changed in the past 12 years. Modern AI was essentially nonexistent during his leaks. His leaks did not cover any military or CIA programs. By his own and the governments admission information was highly compartmentalized for security so he potentially only knew a small chunk of what was happening at the time.

Since then there have been a number of tools and things acknowledged but not expanded upon that are used by the government, such as the cia vault 7 tools disclosed by Wikileaks in 2017 (malware for many things, smart TVs, ios and android, cars, many web browsers, etc). To further complicate things a lot of government surveillance in the us happens outside of the government thanks to our military contracting system. Actors such as booz allen, amazon govcloud, and palantir maintain databases so they bypass FISA requirements.

This is finally becoming more concrete with trumps ICE raids as we begin to see leaks that show ICE, DHS, FBI, and local police departments are relying on palantir databases of American citizens for profiling and arrests. These databases did not appear overnight. They were built over a long time and indicate our government clearly has an issue both with spying on its own citizens and being transparent about it.

In the modern age it is clear that we are going to be tracked. We need to demand transparency and regulation surrounding this. We also need to demand fair treatment for federal whistleblowers, especially related to the military as these often get exempted from whistleblowing protections and charged as espionage. Snowden still lives in exile and is facing 30 years, reality winner got the harshest espionage sentence in history for leaking memos about russian hacking in the 2016 election (by the trump admin, which seems unfair), Chelsea manning got 35 years (which was commuted by Obama), Daniel hale got 45 months, etc.

[–] peteyestee@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

There is no such thing as privacy or security anymore.

[–] n3m37h@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

Cant forget about the OG Thomas A Drake who blew the whistle years before Snowden

[–] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

I got his book as an audiobook. was pretty good

[–] FurryMemesAccount@lemmy.blahaj.zone -1 points 1 day ago

Can he tell us the meaning of life, now that he's 42?