Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden is alleged to have leaked critical documents linking the National Security Agency to tapping international targets' mobile data through intelligent surveillance. The author labels Snowden a traitor because, considering the extent of security threats faced by terrorists, the NSA was justified in tapping the phones of foreigners that they perceived to be a valid course of fear. Those acts were completely immoral and infringed on the foreigners' right to privacy. The use of moral values in this way suggests that Snowden employs virtues in revealing real truth from the unseen (Keeble, 263). The act of tapping the phones of foreign individuals by the National Security Agencies without their knowledge was at first illegal and a violation of the rights to free communication. No matter what measures are taken to protect national security, Human rights cannot be comprised.
The author also argues that Snowden should have shown his patriotism by staying in America to prove that he was not afraid of the consequences that he should be confident in facing. I would disregard these claims because Snowden had exposed himself to a battle against a strong agency that would do anything to withhold its secrets. If they had gone to the extent of mysteriously tapping foreigners’ phones, one would wonder the fate that would face Snowden for this bravery act of exposing the shocking secrets. The consequences that would befall Snowden were not based on the force from the legal institutions, but the critics from the involved agencies. Thus Snowden fleeing to Hong Kong and Moscow was not an act of cowardice but personal interest.
Snowden acted as whistleblower since he made revelations about secrets hidden from the American people. One could raise a question of how far the agencies violated the American people’s rights. The international law does not allow the government to violate anyone’s rights even in a state of emergency. The act of leaking information to the media does not necessarily mean that the security of America was at stake. On the contrary, the media involvement in this scenario was not extreme since they focused on the violation of human rights and discrimination of the concerned individuals whose rights were found to be infringed. The author states that Snowden leaked information in the documents that NSA collected from the legitimate foreign targets, and by so doing he never protected the constitution of America as a whistleblower. I would strongly object these ides because the whole thing is not about American Constitution but rather the so-called foreign targets and whose rights according to American court were violated (Keck 2).
According to Keck, Snowden leaked information to the journalists and left it to them to choose which to keep clandestine and which to disclose to the public (3). In his argument, Keck says that it is not the responsibility of the journalists to decide on these matters. However, this argument holds no basis to prove that Snowden’s actions made him a traitor. On the contrary, the media revealed what the NSA did not want people to know. In my opinion, the author is portraying a hypocritical side of the security details concerning the violation of human rights and discrimination of foreigners’ rights to privacy.
The author commits a logical fallacy when he says that the stories circulated from the Snowden’s leaked documents were touching on the government spying on foreign countries, not its internal operations. In my opinion, this is true because the act of tapping the phones of foreign leaders without their knowledge is spying. Though the author’s statement lacks validity, he states that leaking these documents was not patriotic because he is not concerned with the rights of foreign leaders being violated so long as those of the American’s are not at risk. It is evident that the author is ignorant of the preservation of foreigner’s rights and concentrates on the harm that the leaked documents would cause to the U.S alliances (Keck 3). The author does not make sense when he says that by Snowden seeking refuge in China and Russia helps these countries to gain vital information about NSA operations against them. The argument is based on the motive of NSA by tapping these foreigner’s phones which raise questions on the whether the U.S has good intentions.
The author is emotional when he terms Snowden’s act to be treasonous (4). Keck argues that his actions were like a theft in which classified information was stolen and leaked to undermine the U.S alliances with the rest of the world. The author is being extreme on judging the acts of Snowden as treason. The author forgets the significant impact this secret would have caused the foreign countries if the intentions were not out of goodwill. Keck argues the case as if he was certain that the NSA acted in good faith. The author views the motives of Snowden as senseless when he says that regardless of the merit, Snowden’s actions of betrayal could not be changed by anybody in the mind of fellow citizens and the United States in general (Keck 4)
According to the author, Snowden should have shown that he is not a coward, and be ready to accept his punishment which the disclosure he made would cause him. Keck argues that Snowden’s move to seek refuge to Hong Kong was not an act of patriotism (2). The author does not consider that people are naturally emotional and have family responsibilities. According to Greenwald, MacAskill, and Poitras, Snowden had had epilepsy a condition that needed urgent treatment (n.p). He chooses to remain in Hong Kong since he believed it was a country that would help him evade the dictates of the U.S government. Keck disregards these conditions and assumes that the main reason that led to Snowden fleeing was that he was not willing to suffer the consequences of the crimes he had committed.
In his article, Keck argues that he believes that a true patriotic whistleblower is the one who accepts the consequences of his or her actions. He does not put into consideration what the NSA would have done to him considering the fact that they were secretive in the violations of human rights and which they were not willing to disclose to anybody (2). There is no justification of Snowden fleeing the country, but either or not he fled because of fear, this cannot justify the author’s assumptions of Snowden's betrayal. The reason for Snowden disclosing this information was to inform the public of the violation of their rights by such institutions as NSA in the name of national security (Greenwald, Ewen, and Laura, n.p). However, the author does not consider that these actions to be violating such rights.
The actions taken by the NSA were unconstitutional in accordance with the international laws, and Snowden’s move to disclose these secrets was not an act of betrayal neither was he a traitor to the citizens of the United States. In fact, this was a wakeup call to the people of the world to be alert of their rights being manipulated by security agencies in the name of national security. Snowden had a stable job and a good family who loved him but was ready to sacrifice all that for the sake of people’s liberty which was infringed by U.S government through violating their privacy and communication rights (Greenwald, Ewen, and Laura, n.p). In my opinion, Snowden could not give up all his life in vain. His action shows his dedication to ensuring are aware of the illegal activities carried by the government sworn to protect them.
Dissenting voices are entitled to protection under the law because people may fear to give their views on the disturbing issues concerning human rights violations (Keeble, 22). Keeble argues that dissenters have freedom of speech and thus they are vulnerable to public criticism if the information does not have value. According to Keck, Snowden’s leaks had no merit, and he did not believe in his cause (2). In my opinion, many people would consider knowing more about who and how their rights may be at stake through surveillance by people unknown to them. As such, Snowden should be seen as a whistleblower rather than a traitor.


















Works Cited
Greenwald, Glenn, Ewen MacAskill, and Laura Poitras. “Edward Snowden: The Whistleblower behind The NSA Surveillance Revelations.” The Guardian 2013: n. pag. Print.
Keeble, Richard. Communication Ethics Now. Leicester: Troubador Publishing Ltd, 2008. Print.
Keck, Zachary. “Yes, Edward Snowden Is A Traitor.” The Diplomat 2013: n. pag. Print.