Ed Snowden Sends Open Letter To Brazil... Which The Press Blatantly Misrepresents

[Mike]

This morning, a Brazilian publication, A Folha, released a very interesting open letter from Ed Snowden. It's worth reading in full, and we'll include the full thing beneath this post, but first, a few snippets. His summary of the overall situation is key:

Today, if you carry a cell phone in Sao Paolo, the NSA can and does keep track of your location: they do this 5 billion times a day to people around the world. When someone in Florianopolis visits a website, the NSA keeps a record of when it happened and what you did there. If a mother in Porto Alegre calls her son to wish him luck on his university exam, NSA can keep that call log for five years or more. They even keep track of who is having an affair or looking at pornography, in case they need to damage their target's reputation.

American Senators tell us that Brazil should not worry, because this is not "surveillance," it's "data collection." They say it is done to keep you safe. They’re wrong. There is a huge difference between legal programs, legitimate spying, legitimate law enforcement — where individuals are targeted based on a reasonable, individualized suspicion — and these programs of dragnet mass surveillance that put entire populations under an all-seeing eye and save copies forever. These programs were never about terrorism: they're about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They're about power.

He then notes that some Brazilian politicians have asked for his assistance into researching what the US has done, and he said that he is willing to help "wherever appropriate and lawful" while also noting that the US pulling his passport and showing its willingness to force planes to land when it suspects Snowden may be on board may limit his effectiveness in helping with the investigation. There's a lot more in the letter as well, but the press seems to be summarizing it as "Snowden offers to swap helping investigating spying for asylum." A few examples:

• USA Today: Snowden to Brazil: Swap you spying help for asylum
  
• The Guardian: Edward Snowden offers to help Brazil over US spying in return for asylum
  
• CBS News: Edward Snowden reportedly tells Brazil he’ll help probe NSA spying there if granted asylum
  
• Fox News: Snowden reportedly offers to help Brazil investigate spying if given asylum
  
• Reuters: Snowden makes case for Brazil asylum, offers help
  
• ABC (Australia): Edward Snowden wants asylum in Brazil in exchange for help with investigations into NSA spying
  

All of these seem to think there's some sort of conditional there. Reading the actual letter, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. While he does mention that without being granted political asylum, the US government "will continue to interfere with my ability to speak," there does not appear to be any quid pro quo setup, in which he's asking for asylum. He's just laying out the situation. Furthermore, he later notes the value of being able to speak freely, and how that's more important than where he lives:

My act of conscience began with a statement: "I don't want to live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded. That's not something I'm willing to support, it's not something I'm willing to build, and it's not something I'm willing to live under."

Days later, I was told my government had made me stateless and wanted to imprison me. The price for my speech was my passport, but I would pay it again: I will not be the one to ignore criminality for the sake of political comfort. I would rather be without a state than without a voice.

Of course, the absolute worst of the worst in reporting on this was... CNN. They posted a tweet, claiming that Snowden offered to "spy on the US." Seriously.

Thankfully, after lots of people reacted angrily to that, CNN chose to delete the tweet. And people wonder why the media business is struggling these days.



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[NIK]

"I would rather be without a state than without a voice." What a quote.

Fuck that guy is a hero.

[inotyourdaddy]

"I would rather be without a state than without a voice." What a quote.

Fuck that guy is a hero.

I'll drink to that.

[RobertX]

All the revolutionaries, TPB, Snowden, and Michael Moore... they all remind me of Emmanuel Goldstein, the "fighter figure" of Big Brother in the book "Nineteen Eighty-Four.

[stormium]

brazil can have him.

[hypno-potamous]

He copied some stuff...and now he is an expert on ?

[Carjacker]

He copied some stuff...and now he is an expert on ?

He's not claiming expertise on anything....He is pointing out his personal views on what type of things are worth protecting and fighting for. Brazil's request for his help is open to the world, they didnt ask in secret - hence, it comes with propaganda input and interpretations of the mass media who lean towards regurgitating what the Governments want it to say and to brain wash you into believing the propaganda.
He knew enough about those documents to know which to take and go about getting access to,so, as a Systems Admin , he did have a particular expertise on discerning what would be worthy of disseminating to the public and what not to touch on the grounds of it being a true State Secret and harmful to American Security as a Nation of the People, not just to the ruling Government (ie., whatever Administration happens to hold the Presidency) .