After watching the compelling documentary, “Citizen Four” I learned many things about the NSA and government surveillance that was made prevalent from Edward Snowden’s claims against the NSA. He was a contracted employee hired by the NSA which gave him a level of clearance that over saw all the privacy operations at the NSA. In 2013, after seeing too much corruption and lies, Snowden reveled essential documentation of the NSA to the press. He gave the press the right to release what they thought the public should see. After this “act of treason” Snowden fled the country and continues to be an international felon on the run.
There are two aspects to the debate on whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor and I would concur that both sides have truths to them. The documentation from the NSA was the truth and since we see government officials denying such actions of surveillance and breach of privacy, this adds strengths toward Snowden’s points. Being able to trust your government is a crucial factor to society and Snowden revealed a flaw toward this trust. On the other side of the spectrum we see Snowden as a traitor who leaked government information to non-US allies making him seam as if he was a terrorist. The government should be able to monitor its citizens in a way to keep them safe, but without knowing the truth of how much they abuse this power, can we as a society understand the the truth? Both arguments have truth, but I believe Snowden brought awareness to the people about the truth behind the power of technology and how much power the government has with this type of technology. This will increase awareness of Internet privacy and will help the people better understand the surveillance the government has on its citizens. The average person like myself would not be worried that the government can view content, but the whole thought of that level of surveillance creeps me out.
After reading a current article on a tech blog about what Snowden is up to currently, he is getting praised for promoting freedom of speech. This movement is a very interesting topic with all of the press covering government regulation and Internet privacy. Currently the Norwegian chapter of writer’s rights organization PEN International is suing its own government so that Snowden can receive the prestigious Ossietzky Prize in person and not be extradited to the United States. Technically since he is an international criminal the government can’t comply with this arrangement, and will fight the lawsuit. I am interested to see if Snowden will be able to receive this award in person or if it will have to be over video chat like he did with the Bjørnson prize in 2015.
Article: http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/21/norwegian-pen-chapter-sues-its-country-to-ensure-snowden-can-receive-ossietzky-award-in-person/
While I do agree with you, I do wonder whether Snowden was indeed effective at bringing awareness to the people, given the fact that not many even know of what he did. This is delineated by the fact that many on college campuses, who should be the most educated on up-to-date events, do not know who he is or his significance at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a student problem, but a reading problem. That's why the John Oliver program had more influence; he knows how to discuss very complicated topics in simple terms so that most people will understand it. It's not the last word, and most of us who read about it, know there are better sources. It's just not what most people do - soundbites are so much easier to digest. And the movie makes it pretty clear the government lied about their domestic surveillance policy to Congress. Clapper didn't go to jail for that, though, did he?
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