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

  • UsernameHere@lemy.lolEnglish
    1·
    1 个月前

    Remember that time you were wrong about Snowden but you couldn’t admit it so you just kept reposting the same comment?

    That was funny

    • pjwestin@lemmy.world
      11·
      30 天前

      Anyway, this is a waste of my time. I can’t keep listening to you make shit up and then desperately search for a cherry-picked, misinterpreted fact to justify it. Next time, just admit you’re wrong, or at the very least, stop talking.