Edward Snowden
Cory amplifies 26×The most recognizable voice on mass surveillance and the case for strong encryption.
Edward Snowden is a former NSA and CIA contractor who in 2013 leaked classified documents revealing the scope of U.S. and allied mass-surveillance programs, prompting a global privacy debate. He has lived in Russia since 2013 and was granted Russian citizenship in 2022. He was president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation board (2016-2022) and remains on its board; he now writes the 'Continuing Ed' Substack and advocates on surveillance, privacy, and cryptography.
Latest posts
It's quite simple, Senator: if you're more upset at the whistleblower than you are at the lawbreaking they revealed, you're not in a position to be questioning anybody's judgment.
1y ago · 144,048 likes
The Senate Intel Committee spent nearly the entirety of its session today furiously demanding that DNI nominee Gabbard condemn me personally, a position now opposed by something like 94% of Americans. Courts have been ruling for ten years that NSA broke the law, guys. Move on.
1y ago · 54,381 likes
Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that's what passes for the pledge of allegiance. https://t.co/Z1OmOHgvdU
1y ago · 45,182 likes
Looking at the reaction to Israel's Unabomber-style booby trap campaign from people who actually live in the region, it has created a hundred times more enemies than Hezbollah could ever hope to recruit. Even from a military perspective, it is terribly shortsighted.
2y ago · 54,704 likes
The strongest case
A government that secretly conducts bulk, warrantless surveillance of its own citizens has broken the constitutional bargain, and the public cannot consent to powers it is not told exist, so disclosing unconstitutional programs to journalists is a legitimate act of conscience that strengthens democratic self-government.
And against
Critics contend his disclosures went beyond domestic overreach and damaged legitimate foreign-intelligence operations, and that accepting refuge and citizenship from an authoritarian Russia undercuts his civil-liberties message and hands a propaganda win to a repressive regime.
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On the record
In June 2013 the U.S. charged Snowden with theft of government property and two counts under the Espionage Act, and revoked his passport. In a separate civil suit (United States v. Snowden, 2019-2020) a federal court found he breached CIA/NSA secrecy agreements and ordered proceeds from his memoir and paid speeches (over $5M) turned over to the government. Russia granted him citizenship in September 2022. [source]