Edward Snowden and Asylum Petition in Brazil

Edward Snowden exposed NSA’s illegal surveillance in June 2013, this brought about controversial discussions inside America and all around the world. However, we stay oblivious how this thirty-year-old school dropout advanced to become one of the world's most noticeable critics of the government. Snowden is considered a hero and a patriot of the country, human rights movements like ACLU and Amnesty International advocate that Edward Snowden did great deeds to champion for the privacy rights of the citizens. (Greenwald, 2014) On the contrary, some people and the US intelligence consider Snowden a traitor to the state, the way he exposed the NSA was dubious and brought great risk to the international relationship between the US and other countries. Moreover, the state government accused him of breaching of information of the state.

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

On June 6, 2013, The Guardian published a story about the National Security Agency's (NSA) secret Internet surveillance program, PRISM (Greenwald and MacAskill 2013). The story was based on documents leaked by one of the most successful whistle-blowers in American history, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The documents that Snowden has released up to this time have shown the NSA to be heavily engaged in the collection of personal Internet activity, bulk collection of telephone "metadata," and other forms of surveillance that have brought U.S. intelligence practices into question.

Therefore, Snowden’s true intentions are evident by his rash decision to trade significant information to other countries in return for his financial and personal safety. This is not surprising of “A grandiose narcissist,” who saw an opportunity for fame under the excuse of “serving his country” (Toobin 1). Moreover, any educated individual knows that “the entire mission of the agency is to intercept electronic communications” (Toobin 1). Therefore, Snowden can be characterized as a villain because he not only disrupted a legal process because of his ignorance but also sabotaged his own homeland. As can be seen, Snowden is, above all, a traitor; he deserves to be punished for his irresponsible, illegal, and rash action. If his idea was doing what is morally right, then he could have achieved it legally inside his own country, even if it took twice as long. That is what heroes do; they don’t inflict damage on their nation and simply run away from reality. If the

Described as a terrifying and eye-opening thriller, Citizenfour, a documentary directed by Laura Poitras, follows the case of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who revealed the truth behind the National Security Agency surveillance programs in the United States. Throughout the movie, we first-handedly experience the obstacles Poitras and Glenn Greenwald, a reporter for The Guardian, need to overcome, in order to share Snowden’s story and help him spread the information he leaked. Along those lines, the documentary begins with several encrypted emails received by Poitras from an anonymous sender nicknamed “Citizenfour” who later turns out to be Snowden. A few months later, Poitras and Greenwald partner up and meet Snowden in Hong Kong, where

After it was publicised that the NSA was collecting phone bills, entering servers to gain access to millions of user’s photos and emails, watching web searches and tapping into switches and routers to gain access to international fibre-optic cables located all around the globe, court cases and investigations were opened to discover just how much information this company had successfully gained.

Greenwald, G. (2015). No place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the surveillance state.

On December 1st. 2013, Edward Snowden and three journalist worked to release crucial information of the wrongdoings of the NSA and the Government of the United States (Greenwald) This was by definition, an act of treason. He released government documents that were not meant to be seen by the public eye. Snowden felt that the information he had was so important to the public and their freedoms, that he could give up his entire life and all he's been working for this cause.

Former NSA agent, Edward Snowden, empowered U.S. citizens by releasing top secret governemnt files documenting the government’s unwarranted, illegal surveillance on ally countries and unknowing american citizens. His act of courage brought an era of awareness to the masses of the unconstitutional acts of the sovereign. Today, U.S. citizens can thank Snowden for confirming previously far-fetched conspiracy theories and for giving the people a chance to fight back against oppressive government tactics.

The article, “Why Edward Snowden is a Hero,” penned by John Cassidy, seeks to illuminate the actions of Edward Snowden. As an international controversial figure, Snowden is responsible for leaking enormous amounts of classified information regarding the National Security Agency (N.S.A.). Cassidy contends the data Snowden disclosed to the public revealed that the government actively, knowingly, and deliberately trampled upon the liberties of the American people, by spying on them. Cassidy’s article argues: “Snowden has brought to light important information that deserved to be in the public domain, while doing no lasting harm to the national security of his country.” (Cassidy 2) Comparing the law against Snowden’s actions appears to dismay the populace; the notion that upstanding citizens do not break the law gets in the way of their ability to perceive “real” justice. Corruption, especially government corruption, must be stopped once encountered in any capacity, or our collective liberties may fall. Cassidy maintains Snowden’s hero status, as he perhaps purposefully did not provide an accounting of “algorithms that the N.S.A. uses.” (Cassidy 2) If so, this testifies to his ultimate goodness, by not providing the United States’ populace or rival countries with “groups of individuals” that the N.S.A. targets. (Cassidy 2)

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the

Moreover, Greenwald shapes his audience’s understanding of Snowden’s political actions by including pull quotes and subheadings, including “A matter of principle” and “‘You can't wait around for someone else to act’”, which present him as a principled individual driven by a moral obligation to expose government misconduct, rather than a desire for fame or profit. Greenwald’s rhetorical questions, “Why did he do it? Giving up his freedom and a privileged lifestyle?”, reveal his intent to portray Snowden as a saintly freedom fighter whose actions are motivated by conscientious objection, rather than monetary

Leaving behind his luxurious life working for the NSA, Edward Snowden has made the decision of a lifetime. He now sees himself in Russia, after exposing over 200,000 classified documents from the NSA to the public. Russia has temporarily granted him asylum, allowing him to work and travel within its borders. He has been on the run ever since those documents went out to the public, going from country to country, escaping the USs attempts to capture him. He has exiled himself from America, into Russia. His title of a respective computer specialist working for the NSA and CIA has been thrown away, and is now known as a whistleblower.

In early 2013 a man by the name of Edward Joseph Snowden began leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to media outlets, which in turn ended up in public ears. These documents, mainly involving intelligence Snowden acquired while working as an NSA contractor, are mostly related to global surveillance programs run by the NSA. This has raised multiple ethical issues ranging from national security, information privacy and the ethics behind whistleblowing in general. The reach and impact of these leaks have gone global and have put in question the very government that protects us as well as the extent of the public’s rights on privacy. Various foreign

Edward Snowden is a United States citizen and former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA). Snowden leaked information about the NSA to the media in 2013 and is now in Russia where he was recently granted three years of asylum. The NSA uses cryptology and others forms of information gathering to enable various networks to make advantageous decisions for the Nation and our allies under all circumstances. The NSA operates undetected by civilians, and uses global monitoring so broadly defined that it has allowed for unscrupulous behavior that was witnessed by contracted employee, Edward Snowden. Snowden believed that as the public gained knowledge of the illegal intelligence gathering by the government of domestic citizens, and abroad, he would gain protection from the public. Snowden did receive protection from people including powerful lawyers, journalists, and privacy advocates. Analysis of the Edward Snowden case