Snowden Hero or a Traitor

Abstract

Whistleblowing is a common thing that has been experienced in countries for a long time, which usually has the aim of reviling dirty secrets of the government and politicians. In 2013 America experienced a shock after a whistleblower exposed a secret program that was conducted by the National security agency (NSA). The program was running surveillance known as PRISM on the citizens without their consent, which forced Edward Snowden an employee of the NSA to expose the program by leaking information about the it. This paper will focus on giving a clear overview of Snowden’s actions and revile the people’s opinion on the Snowden revelation.

1.      Introduction

Edward Snowden worked as an analyst in the National Security Agency, where he discovered the PRISM program that the government conducted in secret. The program was initially  designed for tracking any communication in the interwebs that might pose a threat to the country. But on the other hand, the NSA was spying on their citizens acquiring their personal information and data hence invading their privacy. The agency intercepted all types of information that people shared from videos, pictures, voice calls, and SMS. This invasion of privacy by the NSA was what triggered Snowden to expose the program. Being a concerned citizen, Snowden was disturbed by the actions of the NSA, and he decided to shine a light on the illegal spying, which made him a hero for many people while he was labeled an enemy of the state.

2.      Background

Snowden wanted to ensure that he gets the information out to the world using the appropriate means. This led to his collaboration with journalists from the Washington Post and The Guardian, which are America’s most popular media houses. With this collaboration, Snowden was assured of the exposé on PRISM reaching millions of people within a short time. In June 2013, Snowden, after arranging the information he had in an organized format he gave it to the journalists who used it to in writing articles and publishing them on the dailies. The articles did not carry too much weight as the readers could not fathom the information written.

On 9^th June 2013, Snowden agreed to do a video interview with the journalist from the Guardian, which brought closure to the information published on the articles. During this interview is when Snowden revealed his identity to the world as the man behind the leak. He explained his association with NSA, the way PRISM was conducted, and the reason that led to him taking the risky step of whistleblowing against the government. Since he was directly connected to the agency, it made him a credible source of information legitimizing the articles written by the journalists on the exposé.

The action of Snowden exposing a top-secret program conducted by the government to run surveillance or spy on the citizens has raised different opinions from all over the world. It resulted in various actions from the government and the public, creating a controversy. To the citizens, Snowden was a real-life Superman, but to the government, he was a criminal who would be charged with espionage charges once he is arrested. This 30-year-old man made history as the famous whistleblower in America’s history.

3.      Research methodology

My research will use a qualitative type of method with a focus on the people’s opinion on the actions of Snowden, exposing the surveillance program conducted by NSA and the effect it had on the citizens and the government. It will focus on participants of different ages, backgrounds, and gender. With these demographic factors, the information of the respondents will be a representation of the group they represent.

3.1 Research question

How would you describe Edward Snowden, a hero or a traitor?

4.      Findings

From the total number of respondents that participates, 98% of them believed that Edward Snowden was a hero to them as he did the unthinkable by going against the most powerful government for the sake of the ordinary citizens. The fact that the government that swore to protect its citizens was spying on them behind their backs, which was illegal, made him agitated. The rest 2% of the respondents felt like the exposé was uncalled for since no physical harm befell any law-abiding citizen.

5.      Conclusion

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but in this case, the opinion of the majority wins. With the majority of respondents labeling Snowden as a hero, it shows that most people in the world also do. The benefits of Snowden doing the exposé cannot be seen physically. Still, the change it brought is felt as the government made legislation that protects the privacy of personal data, and this happened after the exposé. It also acted as a warning sign to government for their lack of accountability and transparency with its citizens.

Reference

Snowden, E. J. (2019). Permanent record