The debate surrounding Edward Snowden is one that I firmly believe involves a lot of gray matter and little binary answers of morality or heroism. I feel that it is ignorant and short-sided to completely damn Snowden as a traitor or hold him up as a national hero. The actions that Snowden took in 2013 are definitely questionable to some extent, but I can say without a doubt that in my personal experience, the conversation surrounding government surveillance and privacy has made its way to the forefront in the years since his leak. Regardless of one’s opinion on such matters, I think there is certain inherent value in this outcome.
In June of 2013, Snowden released a plethora of documents demonstrating the NSA’s ability to monitor people domestically and internationally to three journalists – Glen Greenspan, Ewan MacAskill, Laura Poitras. The documents included information about various surveillance programs such as PRISM and the UK-based program Tempora. Essentially, the documents showed the US government’s seemingly limitless ability to gather digital information. In addition, some of the information he leaked explained how the US gathers information on foreign threats. This fact is one of the reasons why some people feel that Snowden should be considered a traitor. Another major reason why some believe Snowden is a traitor is that he released his information to the media, rather than through legal channels. Snowden claims that he wanted journalists to present what he had found in a way that takes his personality out of the equation, but there is no doubt that much of this story has centered around Snowden the man. Additionally, Snowden likely feared that nothing would get accomplished if he had released his findings to the government, which would have been the legal means to do so. I feel that if we completely remove legality from the equation, what Snowden did was moral. He saw a wrong doing and brought it to the attention of the public. Yes, some hypothetical arguments can be made about the damage his actions may have caused, but that does not change the fact that the public today is more aware of the government’s actions than before.
In my personal opinion, I feel that Snowden’s actions are a net positive going forward. In my experiences with everyday people, it seems undeniable that people are more aware of the abilities of government to conduct surveillance on its citizens. While there may be some that feel this is an excusable or justified power, there certainly are some that disagree. Without knowledge of the context and truth surrounding this debate, there is no way we can make democratic decisions about out government’s security powers. I do not feel the Unite States should submit to completely excusing Edward Snowden’s actions, but without his actions, it is likely that the government would have continued its unchecked surveillance without the public’s knowledge. To me that is a severe injustice. The American people have the right to make an informed decision about the surveillance powers they grant the government.