Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Fugitive and whistleblower Edward Snowden to speak from Russia at SXSW
As if there wasn't enough tension between Russia and the US, Edward Snowden will be showing his face as this year's South by Southwest Festival. As we all know, Russia granted Snowden temporary asylum after he stole over one million classified NSA documents electronically. He has not released all of the information he possesses, but he did reveal that the NSA's collection of phone records caused him to go "rogue." Since then, the debate of what is and is not constitutional on the matter of national security of raged on. Will Snowden's appearance have any implications on the current crisis in Ukraine?
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I don't think that Snowden will ever actually be welcomed back into America. He should get comfortable where he is. Snowden is an appropriate name for the geography of Russia.If he stole information once, who says that he won't do it again. Having said that, I am interested to say what this high-school dropout has to say. If he fled the country, he probably has some very important information. Some that could be very interesting to the public.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to feel about Edward Snowden. In some ways I respect him for speaking out about his beliefs. I think that when you think that the government is acting in an unconstitutional way that you should do somthing about it. But I also believe that the government does things out of concern for our National security. I am not clear about the details of the Snowden case, but I could see how both sides have a valid point. As far a Snowden talking at SXSW I think that this is probably just for publicity. Snowden is a pretty well known name now.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that SXSW is even allowed to do this, I mean are they even allowed to be in contact with him when our government would arrest him the second he entered the country. And how did they contact him in the first place? I wish the article explained this part. Part of me just believes that this is a publicity stunt just to get people to show up.
ReplyDeleteEdward Snowden betrayed his country when he fled and then spilled our secrets to the Chinese and Russians. I would be much more receptive to Snowden had he not been so treasonous. Many have pointed out, however, the fact that the program most likely was unconstitutional and that this should reduce any prison term he would serve. I do agree with this if it were not for his cowardice. If I had been in his position, I certainly would not have fled the country.
ReplyDeleteI would like to add that I do agree with Rand Paul’s position that any prison term should be reduced because of the service he provided to our country.
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting to see what impacts Snowden speaking at the SXSW conference has on the future of of our national securities policies and what happens with Snowden himself. I do no think that the United States should or will ever welcome him back. He stole import classified documents and showed them to other countries which is an act of treason.
ReplyDeleteEdward Snowden did as wrong thing and will never be returning to our country. With that said, I'm unsure if his presence and speaking at the SXSW conference will or won't have any influence of people's view of him. Like Michaela said, it could all be a publicity stunt, but also he might have some very interesting points and information. I'm little informed on the entire Snowden case, but I believe protecting our National Security is absolutely crucial in any circumstance.
ReplyDeleteI'm also confused on how they could have gotten in contact with him. I really don't see how Snowden could be viewed as anything other than treasonous. Shouldn't the fact that the only place that would grant him asylum is Russia be a tip off that what he did was not in the least patriotic. Yes, there should be discussions about the reach of the NSA, but Snowden has a million very sensitive documents which could expose who knows what about our government, and he is residing in a country which would do anything to get their hands on that kind of information about us.
ReplyDeleteSouth by South West festival attracts thousands of people every year, so I don't think that they need Snowden as a publicity stunt to get more people to come. However it may be a publicity stunt for Snowden. He's been out of the news for awhile now and it seems plausible that he would speak at a festival, like SXSW, to get attention.
ReplyDeleteThere's probably a large part of this that's for publicity and attention for both Snowden and the SXSW conference, because now a lot of people are interested in what he's going to say. However, if Snowden cares enough about this topic to risk becoming a fugitive from the government he used to work for and fleeing to Russia, he probably has a lot that he wants to talk about. It'll be interesting to see how the whole situation turns out.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little confused and puzzled as to how SXSW came into contact with Snowden, especially if he'd be arrested the second that he came into this country. He did so much to betray the US by spilling secrets and whatnot, but I think there is a positive to this article: the great things that we can now do with technology. Yes, it does let us do many great things, but if we abuse technology and do not use it properly, like having Snowden speak (is this any more than a publicity stunt?), is technology really such a great thing?
ReplyDeleteWhat Snowden did was wrong, and he should not be permitted back into our country. Yes, maybe he believed the program was unconstitutional, but there had to be another way to speak out without fleeing the country and leaking important U.S. information to foreign countries. With that being said, I don't think many American's will even care to hear what Snowden has to say, as Sam said.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone above, I highly doubt that Snowden will be welcomed back for all the reasons I won't bother to reiterate. Even if he were welcomed back from a legal standpoint, he will still undoubtedly receive an overwhelming amount of hate for his actions. That being said, I'm confused about one thing (and this is probably a stupid question) but does the ex post facto law rule still apply in this case? It's backwards in Snowden's situation. The article said that Snowden claims he won't return until the U.S changes the whistle-blower protection laws...but hypothetically if the laws were repealed, he would have committed the crimes before they were.
ReplyDeleteI think this is incredibly amusing. First of all, I thought South by Southwest was just a music festival, so when I read the beginning lines of the article I thought it was a weird choice of audience... Now I realize that he chose wisely. Maddie brings up a really interesting question, that I would also like the answer too. I don't think that he should return to the US any time soon, but he can do whatever he wants.
ReplyDeleteEdward Snowden is a sleazeball and a criminal that will never be welcomed back to America. However, I have never been a fan of the NSA whatsoever and on one hand, would be interested in what he had to say. But, with his history, there is a chance that this whole thing is just for publicity or simply a pack of lies altogether.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Edward Snowden made a good choice when he informed the public of the NSA phone surveillance. He may have uncovered thousands of top secret files, but he has not released any information that could put any citizen in direct danger. Why he would chose a music festival is unknown to me but I think that the target group for his supporters would most likely be at the festival.
ReplyDeleteLike some of my classmates, I am also a little bit confused about how SXSW got in contact with Snowden. Snowden will never be welcomed back to America, but if he was, he would receive a lot of hate for the things that he has done. Like Michaela said, this could all just be a publicity stunt, even though I don't think some people are necessarily going to respect what he has to say.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised the Snowden is still willing to show himself and speak to the public when he is aware that he would be arrested if he stepped foot in America. If I were Snowden I would want to keep my whereabouts as private from the US as possible.
ReplyDelete