“Edward Snowden: A Hero in The Eyes of People? Ethical Dilemma of "Whistleblowing"

#snowden #NSA #heroortraitor

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In the YouTube video, interview with John Stossel, "Snowden: Traitor or Hero?",  Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor and computer specialist who leaked top-secret documents revealing extensive government surveillance of Americans, discusses his motivations for exposing the program and the consequences he has faced. Snowden initially believed he was working to save lives by finding foreign terrorists, but as he moved through different roles within the government, he realized the extent of the NSA's spying on Americans. Feeling a moral obligation to reveal this information, Snowden asserts that the government's claims about the effectiveness of the spying programs in stopping terrorist attacks were false and that officials, including former NSA director Keith Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, have not faced consequences for their involvement in the deception and insists on everyone know the truth about the NSA’s actions. Now, for the past seven years, Snowden has been living in exile in Moscow, due to the cancelled passport and the risk of being charged under the Espionage Act.  

"I do not want to live in a society that does these sort of things"

No Regret After 10 Years in ExihilArguing e

In the following article -Stanford Daily: Edward Snowden is no hero , it looks at the perspective of the mosaic theory, which appropriately describes how Snowden caused operational harm, several small pieces being aligned at the right time make sense of a greater picture. Programs that had nothing to do with American privacy interests were discontinued, the perfect example being a program used to collect real time intelligence for troops in Afghanistan. So, operationally, Snowden caused harm. Snowden caused operational and economic harm in his actions. The threats that the U.S. had been tracking have since learned about the surveillance and adapted. According to  former NSA General Counsel Rajesh De, threats have changed strategies in the counterintelligence community because of Snowden’s actions. There are sophisticated international cyber threats, and there is a bit of mosaic theory at work here. 

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"Arguig that you dont care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you dont care about free speech because you have nothing to say"

My Thoughts

Overall, even though Snowden caused some harm in releasing the information, which was a program used to collect real time intelligence for troops in Afghanistan, which caused some harm for the people but not intentionally so I believe what Snowden did was a right of action because the harm caused was in one area and not the whole word. However, in the world today, it is easy to get away doing wrong deeds, make mistakes and not get punished for them, like the two people mentioned in the video, NSA director Keith Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, as they did not get punished for their actions. What I am saying is it’s hard to confront those who do wrongly deeds and mistakes whereas those who are trying to provide justice or the world top do good deeds in regards in getting involved in political affairs,  to get justice and act in regard to course of action, referencing the Hindu philosophy of the worlds cycle of which we are in the Kali Yuga. From this point of view, I would say what Snowden did was heroic in the sense that he wanted to get justice. After digging into Snowden’s actions into leaking information about the NSA’s actions in the program, I believe the two people mentioned should be punished for their actions and not Snowden, revealing the truth behind NSA.  

The implications of Snowden actions are that initially believed that he was working for the government to save lives by finding foreign terrorists, but as he moved through different roles within the government, he realized the extent of the NSA's spying on Americans. Feeling a moral obligation to reveal this information, Snowden asserts that the government's claims about the effectiveness of the spying programs in stopping terrorist attacks were false and that officials, including former NSA director Keith Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, have not faced consequences for their involvement in the deception and Snowden insists on everyone know the truth aboutthe NSA’s actions and the government  

So Do You Believe Snowden was a Hero or Traitor

• Yes
• No
• Both
• Unclear

You can vote for more than one answer.