САЩ: Сноудън: Сигурността е наше право

Edward Snowden, NSA Whistleblower (English): "One of the most important things and I suppose we all have a duty, sort of collectively in society to remember this, is to think about when we're being manipulated, when we're being directed to think a certain kind of way and accept a certain argument reflexivly without actually tackling it. The common argument that we have, 'If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. The origins of that is literally Nazi propaganda. This is not to equate the actions of our current government to the Nazis, of course. But that is literally the origin of that quote. It is from the Ministry of Propaganda [inaudible]. So when we hear modern politicians, when we hear modern people that are repeating that reflexively, without confronting its origins, without confronting what it really says, I think that's harmful. And if we actually think about it, it doesn't really make sense because privacy isn't about something to hide. Privacy is about something to protect. That's who you are. That's what you believe in. That's who you want to become. Privacy is the right to the self. Privacy is what gives you the ability to share with the world who you are on your own terms, for them to understand what you are trying to be and to protect for yourself the parts of you that you are not sure about, that you are still experimenting with. If we don't have privacy, what we are losing is the ability to make mistakes; we are losing the ability to be ourselves. Privacy is the fountainhead of all other rights. Freedom of speech doesn't have a lot of meaning if you cannot have a quiet space, a space within yourself, within your mind, within your community, within your friends, within your home to decide what it is that you actually want to say." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
The National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden spoke at a press screening of Oliver Stone's new film "Snowden," via video link from Moscow, where he is currently in exile, Wednesday. His appearance comes as earlier this month, a number of international advocates and civil rights organisation, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, launched a campaign calling for the US government to pardon the NSA leaker.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest spoke of the US President's stance on the issue earlier this week, claiming that Snowden returns to the US to face charges of espionage and theft of government property.
Snowden was speaking at a press conference to launch a new bipopic about his life, which goes on general release this week. 'Snowden' tells the story of the former NSA contractor Snowden life as he released one of the biggest tranches of classified data in history in 2013.
Snowden has been in self-imposed exile in Russia following his revelations that the NSA was using various computer programmes to monitor the digital correspondence of millions of American citizens and international world-leaders. In absentia, he has been charged with espionage by the US government, and faces arrest if he were to return home.
In 2013, Snowden leaked classified information from the NSA exposing the Security Agency's vast covert surveillance apparatus. He was granted asylum in Russia in June 2013 where he remains though America has called for his extradition.