Snowden joining Twitter

par | Sep 30, 2015 | Uncategorized | 0 commentaires

https://twitter.com/twitter/status/648938950812274688/photo/1

Twitter mapped the world’s reaction to Snowden joining Twitter in an animated GIF image, showing that the leaker’s entry into the Twittersphere is being followed by people in all continents.
At the time of this writing, Edward Snowden follows only one Twitter account: the NSA’s. This is typical of Snowden’s gallows humor: in an interview with comedian John Oliver, Snowden talked about the different programs the NSA could use to spy on your “dick pics” (his words).
After famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson welcomed Snowden to Twitter, Snowdentweeted back in response. We’ve included their conversation.
Given that the US government has charged Snowden with three felonies including espionage, it is indeed surprising that the US’s top fugitive has managed to maintain such a light sense of humor. The Obama administration, which issued these charges, has prosecuted more than twice as many whistleblowers under the Espionage Act as all previous administrations combined. Just 10 peoplein US history have ever been charged with espionage for leaking classified material, and 7 of these people were prosecuted under Obama.
The Espionage Act was a WWI-era law passed in 1917. Despite Snowden’s charges, no evidence has been made public showing that his leaks were undertaken with the intent to aid foreign governments.
In a tweet to Snowden, deGrasse Tyson did not mince words about his belief that the whistleblower is a patriot.
On the contrary, President Obama once said of Snowden, “No, I don’t think Mr. Snowden was a patriot… I called for a thorough review of our surveillance operations before Mr. Snowden made these leaks.”
The US isn’t the only government that isn’t a fan of Snowden: European countries also worked together to force Bolivia’s presidential plane to land and subject itself to a search, on the (false) suspicion that the wanted NSA whistleblower was on board. This caused a diplomatic crisis,infuriating Latin America.
None of this immense governmental pressure has deterred Snowden from continuing to conduct interviews detailing the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program—or continuing to joke about it. His most recent tweet at the time of this writing cracks, “Meanwhile, a thousand people at Fort Meade just opened Twitter.”
Twitter mapped the world’s reaction to Snowden joining Twitter in an animated GIF image, showing that the leaker’s entry into the Twittersphere is being followed by people in all continents.

Ken Klippenstein is an American journalist who can be reached on Twitter @kenklippenstein or via email: kenneth.klippenstein@gmail.com

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