Snowden Joins Twitter, Cat Joke Follows—but No Kidding About That Traitor Thing
It started with a simple post, relying on an old joke that winks at life in exile:
Yes, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden joined the 140-character-limited realm of social media and began tweeting Tuesday morning, and pretty soon it was clear: Snowden's got jokes.
The move to Twitter came after a recent interview on scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson's radio show in which he was asked to join the social media site.
Snowden spent part of his first morning exchanging jokey tweets and defending his actions as a whistle-blower.
Seven tweets later, he had more than half a million followers.
Snowden is in exile for leaking to journalists in 2013 details of the National Security Agency's secret global surveillance program, resulting in international condemnation and calls to reform the practice of collecting data from the communications of Americans.
Things quickly grew serious when Tyson asked a question about an allegation that has made the rounds in American discourse: Many politicians, including Dick Cheney and Donald Trump, have called Snowden a traitor. It's probably the No. 1 question surrounding his continued exile in Russia and whether he'll ever return to the United States to face investigation or prosecution for the leaks.
Snowden responded by saying that he's "just a citizen with a voice," adding that Daniel Ellsberg has given him some advice there. Ellsberg is a former military analyst who leaked a Pentagon study of Vietnam—known as the Pentagon Papers—that revealed the government had been lying to its citizens about how the war was going. The leak changed public opinion of the war and helping bring about its end.
As long as you're here, Edward, and a fan of cat jokes: May we suggest a peek at #NSAcat?
Related stories on TakePart:
• Edward Snowden Probably Deserves Credit for These 3 Privacy Victories
• 'CITIZENFOUR' Recasts Pariah Edward Snowden as American Hero
Original article from TakePart
