In June of 2013, Edward Snowden was the most wanted man in the world as the U.S. government and others frantically attempted to arrest him for leaking documents that exposed the breadth of surveillance imposed upon the public. The Portuguese government even forced a plane carrying Bolivia’s president to be grounded because of rumors that Snowden might be on board.
Snowden has since been living in exile in Russia as U.S. government officials have relentlessly tried to bring him home to prosecute him over alleged violations of the Espionage Act. Former CIA director-turned-secretary of state Mike Pompeo and others have shamed him, calling him a traitor. Pompeo has even called for his execution.
But as the political climate in the U.S. continues to devolve, especially in light of President Trump’s decision to appoint CIA director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and replace Pompeo with a known proponent of torture, Snowden has been on a Twitter rampage. And he’s not just discussing the CIA and torture.
Here’s a collection of tweets from the past week that show not only how committed Snowden is to actually making a difference but also the dire need for more people to speak out:
On CIA abuses and the political appointments Trump has made:
He also challenged the popular talking point that torture saves lives:
On Tuesday, he highlighted ties between Cambridge Analytica and the federal government:
Over the past week, he also roundly indicted social media companies for their anti-privacy practices, criticizing the apparent notion that Facebook has been a victim:
Also on the subject of violative policies, he shared news from his own leaked documents that the NSA was monitoring Bitcoin users back in 2013:
He also called out former intelligence chief James Clapper for evading charges for lying under oath when he claimed the government was not collecting data on citizens:
In a particularly impressive move, Snowden vowed to keep criticizing the Russian government despite fears from some that it is dangerous to do so:
Snowden touched on police corruption, waxing sarcastic:
He has also been promoting solutions that include open source technology, digital security, and his Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Other retweets have focused on promoting whistleblowers, and reminding the public that President Obama helped contribute to the use of torture:
He also shared a recent interview where he was asked about releasing unpublished documents from his cache. “There is still work to be done, for sure, and I hope that the archive will continue to be useful to journalists,” he said in the article, though he acknowledged “there are parts of the archive that were never intended for publication” and may not serve the public interest.
As he continues to highlight and expose injustice around the world, his pinned tweet from last year is perhaps the most telling:
Follow him here: @Snowden.
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So good that I had to Resteem. Thank you for bringing attention to what Edward Snowden is doing to enlighten the world.
I appreciate the Resteem! Great post.
Lol, I thought "Follow him here: .." was going to lead me to his Steem account..
I wish! We should campaign to get him on here. :)
Dear @jamesc
Do you wonder about the power of Steem? Not just it's monetary value, but as a tool to make change happen? I often think about that and the more I work on steemit, the more I see huge potential. I noticed you have a philanthropic side to you.
I have recently started a very simple project on steemit. It is called 'Upvote a tree', where I donate 100% of SBD to the cause of reforestation here in Northern Peru. I actually plant the native tree saplings myself and I post videos about it on here. I have worked in the field of international development for over 10 years and I have yet to see anything close to what steem can do for the world. The principle of just a simple upvote, no mater the value, means it is participatory and driven by a growing community. I could go on and on about my thoughts and visions, but I know you probably get loads of messages and thank you for reading this far.
Kind regards,
@intrepidsurfer
How much of the deep state's Russia hatred is related to Snowden? Probably a fair amount, in my estimation.
Of course, it's also about pipelines and strategic influence in the region, but hey.
I see Snowden in a new light now that I know he's a Mitchell & Webb fan ("Are we the baddies"). Unless he just stumbled across it on YouTube in which case I don't.
Are you trying to have a cultural relevance contest with Snowden? haha. Sorry, but he wins whether or not he is a fan of any certain comedians ;)
Don't let them take your leaders away from you. When one is taken, ten must rise.
thanks for sharing...
well content...
@upvoted
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I have a huge problem with how his leaked information is coming out. I don't know if it is his fault or of Greenwald ect. The leaks around Syria and now bitcoin coming out almost 5 years later is quite honestly outrageous and suspect.
Americans (and the world) owe a lot to this man. He's continued to speak out intelligently since his decision to sacrifice any hope of a normal life.
+1 great post
Wow! Hectic. I didn't know about this guy before, but I will pay attention to him now. Upvoted and followed
looks like you copy this post from @felixjasper :
26 Reasons Why You Need to Start Paying Attention to Edward Snowden