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Vladimir Putin during the nationwide phone-in in Moscow.
(Photograph: RIA Novosti/Reuters)
Vladimir Putin Must Be Called to Account on Surveillance Just Like Obama
I questioned the Russian president live on TV to get his answer on the record, not to whitewash him
Apr 18, 2014
On Thursday, I questioned Russia's involvement in mass surveillance on live television. I asked Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, a question that cannot credibly be answered in the negative by any leader who runs a modern, intrusive surveillance program: "Does [your country] intercept, analyze or store millions of individuals' communications?"
I went on to challenge whether, even if such a mass surveillance program were effective and technically legal, it could ever be morally justified.
The question was intended to mirror the now infamous exchange in US Senate intelligence committee hearings between senator Ron Wyden and the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, about whether the NSA collected records on millions of Americans, and to invite either an important concession or a clear evasion. (See a side-by-side comparison of Wyden's question and mine here.)
Clapper's lie - to the Senate and to the public - was a major motivating force behind my decision to go public, and a historic example of the importance of official accountability.
Read the rest of this article at The Guardian...
Edward Snowden Asks Vladimir Putin About Surveillance | The New York TimesEdward J. Snowden, the former United States government contractor, asked President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a question ...
* Edward Snowden wrote for the Guardian through the Freedom of the Press Foundation
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
© 2023 The Guardian
Edward Snowden
Whistleblower Edward Joseph Snowden is a US former technical contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee who leaked details of top-secret US and British government mass surveillance programs to the press.
On Thursday, I questioned Russia's involvement in mass surveillance on live television. I asked Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, a question that cannot credibly be answered in the negative by any leader who runs a modern, intrusive surveillance program: "Does [your country] intercept, analyze or store millions of individuals' communications?"
I went on to challenge whether, even if such a mass surveillance program were effective and technically legal, it could ever be morally justified.
The question was intended to mirror the now infamous exchange in US Senate intelligence committee hearings between senator Ron Wyden and the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, about whether the NSA collected records on millions of Americans, and to invite either an important concession or a clear evasion. (See a side-by-side comparison of Wyden's question and mine here.)
Clapper's lie - to the Senate and to the public - was a major motivating force behind my decision to go public, and a historic example of the importance of official accountability.
Read the rest of this article at The Guardian...
Edward Snowden Asks Vladimir Putin About Surveillance | The New York TimesEdward J. Snowden, the former United States government contractor, asked President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a question ...
* Edward Snowden wrote for the Guardian through the Freedom of the Press Foundation
Edward Snowden
Whistleblower Edward Joseph Snowden is a US former technical contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee who leaked details of top-secret US and British government mass surveillance programs to the press.
On Thursday, I questioned Russia's involvement in mass surveillance on live television. I asked Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, a question that cannot credibly be answered in the negative by any leader who runs a modern, intrusive surveillance program: "Does [your country] intercept, analyze or store millions of individuals' communications?"
I went on to challenge whether, even if such a mass surveillance program were effective and technically legal, it could ever be morally justified.
The question was intended to mirror the now infamous exchange in US Senate intelligence committee hearings between senator Ron Wyden and the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, about whether the NSA collected records on millions of Americans, and to invite either an important concession or a clear evasion. (See a side-by-side comparison of Wyden's question and mine here.)
Clapper's lie - to the Senate and to the public - was a major motivating force behind my decision to go public, and a historic example of the importance of official accountability.
Read the rest of this article at The Guardian...
Edward Snowden Asks Vladimir Putin About Surveillance | The New York TimesEdward J. Snowden, the former United States government contractor, asked President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a question ...
* Edward Snowden wrote for the Guardian through the Freedom of the Press Foundation
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