National Security Agency leaker
Edward Snowden took part in an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit on Monday, saying that one thing he would change about revealing the agency’s spying practices would be to come forward sooner.
"Had I come forward a little sooner, these programs would have been a little less entrenched, and those abusing them would have felt a little less familiar with and accustomed to the exercise of those powers. This is something we see in almost every sector of government, not just in the national security space, but it's very important: Once you grant the government some new power or authority, it becomes exponentially more difficult to roll it back," he said.
Snowden took part in the session with Laura Poitras, director of “Citizenfour,” and journalist Glenn Greenwald. “Citizenfour,” a documentary about early interviews between Snowden and journalists, won an Oscar for Best Documentary at Sunday's Academy Awards.
On Reddit, Snowden also commented about the difference between legality and morality in a response to a question about keeping the NSA spying issue at the forefront of political discussions.
“History shows that the righting of historical wrongs is often born from acts of unrepentant criminality,” Snowden said. “Here and there throughout history, we'll occasionally come across these periods where governments think more about what they ‘can’ do rather than what they ‘should’ do, and what is lawful will become increasingly distinct from what is moral. In such times, we'd do well to remember that at the end of the day, the law doesn't defend us; we defend the law. And when it becomes contrary to our morals, we have both the right and the responsibility to rebalance it toward just ends.”
Twitter users shared mixed reactions.
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