Question

5. Familiarize yourself with Edward Snowden. He was the subject of a movie shown in cinemas last semester. As a whistleblower, his actions are still a matter of discussion in the privacy debate. Write two sentences: 1. what did Snowden do? 2. Do you believe he was a traitor or patriot and why?

Answer 1

• He broke the law. I concede that he may thusly be labeled a 'criminal' or even a 'traitor,' but a 'villain' implies his motivation was nefarious or selfish in some way, and his only motivation was that he believed the people had a right to know what was being kept from them. The only information he handed out was to the press.The only people who might label him a 'villain' are those who had something to lose: the government.
• The media had the opportunity to paint him as a hero of the people, and instead chose to vilify him , so that the average person, if they even know who he is believes he "sold secrets" to our 'enemies' or was involved with WikiLeaks. Most people don't have a clue what he did and what he gave up to gain that notoriety.
• While some believe he was heroic for showing Americans that their government was illegally spying on them, others maintain that what he leaked and the way he did so prove his motives were far from patriotic.
• As a hero,his revelation of illegal US government activity sparked a global debate  over surveillance techniques and protecting citizens’ privacy, which resulted in the US government passing laws for the first time in decades restricting government surveillance.
• Snowden acted responsibly when he revealed that the NSA’s surveillance program was unconstitutional. He was careful in not leaking any details about the algorithms that the NSA used in its operations.
• Snowden risked his own freedom to bring information into the public domain about the US government endangering its citizens’ civil liberties rather than protecting them.
• As a traitor,The way he leaked the information was dubious;If Snowden had been a patriotic whistle blower, he would have first found legal avenues for his pursuit in reigning in the NSA.Snowden may have argued that he was acting nobly, but it was actually careless, as journalists and their editors aren’t qualified to decide such legal matters, especially when their interests are about selling newspapers, not protecting U.S. national security.
• A patriot believes in his cause enough to be willing to face the consequences.If Snowden genuinely believed in the righteousness of his cause and actions, he would have been confident enough to remain in the United States and face the consequences of stealing and leaking the NSA documents.
• Well the bottom line being,While Edward Snowden illegally stole and leaked classified NSA documents, he sparked a global debate about surveillance that instigated the US government to change laws that better protect Americans’ right to privacy. However, his actions also endangered US foreign relations and revealed secrets to US enemies.