Personal Views
Edward Snowden broke the United States law by disclosing classified information about the government to the public. When viewed from government side, he is a traitor for exposing and embarrassing the U.S government to the global community. He went against the terms of the employment and did not consider loyalty he pledged to the organization. The act endangers the national security secrets to the world. In the other hand, personally Snowden unraveled the wrongs done in the agency. He used altruism to uncover the wrongs. In this view, he broke the law to help protect people’s right. It is, however, possible to label him as a traitor who revealed and ashamed his government or as a patriot who sparked the mind of liberal thinkers on how the government should protect and not privately stalk the citizens depending on the angle one decides to look his case.
The former National Security Agency subcontractor’s name will remain in historical records for ages. The decision he took to mine security details from the government detailing high illegal practices of the Agency shocked the world and raised queries on how the government monitors people without their consent. The information he sold proved how the government breaches the privacy right of the Americans. The government barred him from returning to America from outside countries he sought asylum. As a public servant, he is obliged to highlight the wrongs and reveal abuse of authority by the government.
Edward Snowden is a Patriot
In the bid to establish the facts of why Snowden’s act was heroic, it is essential to examine what was inside the leaked information. In this context, he did not leak everything that was contained in the thousands classified documents he copied to the public and the potential enemies of America. Before releasing the information to the public domain, he vetted the files. He leaked only that pertained the collection of phone logs, the user data and other information to expose the illegal dealings by the Agency. As a patriot, he decided to shed light on the invasion of public privacy, which was not aimed at protecting the mass from any harm of terrorism. Although he secretly copied the information from his employer and disclosed it to the world, he did it with valid reasons.
Snowden’s decision to leak the information was not arrogant because he decided what to do with the data just like the responsible member of congress or the executive could have done if the outcome would mean enlightening the world and exposing government atrocities. After all, what is the moral of reporting a wrong done to the perpetrator? The exposure brought about the scrutiny of the questions of how possible the government can exploit modern technologies to interfere with other countries cyber information to collect information not meant to protect the public. If Snowden is to be taken through the legal prosecution and jailed, then it raises eyebrows on the question on “who judge the judges” given that the government violated the right enshrined in the Bill of Rights. At a personal level, Snowden is a patriot who sacrificed his freedom and job to safeguard the public’s right to privacy.
The truth remains that his exposure opened windows of opportunity to the world by sparking the debate about the privacy and illegal surveillance by the authorities. Consequently, his leak played a crucial role in shaping the tech companies and other governments across the world to be more transparent, accountable and less intrusive. The civic liberties of every American citizen are listed in the Fourth Amendment, and he was able to show the public how their government infringed the liberties. Being aware of the devasting impacts the revelation would bring to his life, he shows selflessness and bravery to be celebrated, considering that he did not damage American national security. His action was extraordinarily responsible and employed the altruism to benefit the broad population without causing harm to the country and fellow citizens.
Confronted with the ugly truth, the American government would have appreciated the fact that he did not leak information that would help other governments and terrorist groups to gain a competitive advantage against America. The ugly truth is that governments across the world use mass surveillance to spy citizens and collect personal information from social media platforms about personal lives and conversations. He made it clear that globally governments systematically tap personal information with no regard of individual safety as they have no link to terrorism.
Edward Snowden is a patriot whose revelations shed light to the public on how their governments, intelligence agencies and technology companies infringe their rights. He enabled people to have a new perspective of the government security agencies by showing how their right is eroded at the expense of national security. He orchestrated a debate on how tech intelligence can be used to enhance and conceal personal information instead of undemocratically spying on people. The exposure criticizes the wrong committed by the National Security Agency spying on people who have done nothing to be classified as suspects. The Agency could have invested in monitoring terrorist groups who repeatedly presented themselves as threats to national security.