It is difficult to quantify the damage done by those who leak classified government information to the public. Once that information is exposed to the internet, it can be accessed by anyone, almost anywhere in the world. Some level of secrecy is necessary for the government to function at many levels. In particular, secrecy is vital in areas of national security and international intelligence. Government whistleblowers endanger national security by leaking classified documents to the public because that information can be used by enemies of the state against American interests. Further, leakers often act out of malice or self-interest and are acting illegally by exposing information.
While it is difficult to grasp the scale of damage created by classified leaks, some specific examples are known. Such cases confirm that enemies can use leaked information against American interests. In a 2012 article in The New Statesman, “Julian Assange and Europe's Last Dictator”, they reported that an associate of Julian Assange, Israel Shamir, delivered unredacted state department cables to Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko before a 2010 election. These cables contained information regarding US relationships with Lukashenko’s opposition. They included names as well as financial transactions between the US and opposition leaders. After the election, those exposed by the cables found themselves facing retaliation; “Andrei Sannikov, a defeated opposition presidential candidate” was imprisoned, his press secretary was found dead, others were placed under house arrest. (Komireddi)
In another case, the leaks of state department cables by Bradley Manning put lives at risk. In the documentary We Steal Secrets, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, German IT te...
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Komireddi, Kapil “Julian Assange and Europe's Last Dictator” The New Statesman 1 March, 2012. Web. 22 March 2014.
Savage, Charlie. "Snowden Says He Reported Concerns Before Leaks. The New York Times 2014: 3. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
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We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks. Assange, Julian, Gibney, Alex. 2013. Universal City, CA: Universal Home Video, 2013.
Wise, David. "Leaks and the law: the prosecution of Thomas Drake highlights the tension between government secrecy and the public's right to know" Smithsonian 2011: 90. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
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Kevin M. Gallagher. 2013. Freedom of the Press Foundation. Glenn Greenwald, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'. Video file posted on YouTube on June 9, 2013.
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Is the American government trustworthy? Edward Joseph Snowden (2013) released to the United States press* selected information about the surveillance of ordinary citizens by the U.S.A.’s National Security Agency (N.S.A.), and its interconnection to phone and social media companies. The motion picture Citizenfour (2014), shows the original taping of those revelations. Snowden said that some people do nothing about this tracking because they have nothing to hide. He claims that this inverts the model of responsibility. He believes that everyone should encrypt Internet messages and abandon electronic media companies that track personal information and Internet behavior (op.cit, 2014). Snowden also stressed to Lawrence Lessig (2014) the importance of the press and the first amendment (Lessig – Snowden Interview Transcript, [16:28]). These dynamics illustrate Lessig’s (2006) constrain-enable pattern of powers that keep society in check (2006, Code: Version 2.0, p. 122). Consider Lessig’s (2006) question what is “the threat to liberty?” (2006, p. 120). Terrorism is a real threat (Weber, 2013). Surveillance by social media and websites, rather than the government, has the greater negative impact on its users.
Greenwald is currently contributing to The Guardian. The Guardian is an English newspaper digital US edition established in 2011. It is the third most widely read online newspaper. The Guardian as well as Greenwald writes for the politically savvy. Before he started with the Guardian, he was Constitutional lawyer and enjoyed that occupation until he realized he did not want to protect those people but rather sue them. After quitting that he eventually wound up writing for The Salon. He went to George Washington University and then went to Graduate School at New York University Law School (Testa). Greenwald is neither a Democrat nor a republican. He is opposed to big government and he is against the expansion of presidential powers. Greenwald is a very educated man who has won many awards for his journalism. Eric Snowden, NSA whistle blower risked not only his job but his life, breaking silence about the mass surveillance and trusted Glenn Greenwald with the information showing that Greenwald has credibility. However, with this particular article, Greenwald left out vital information that would make this article grab the /more headlines. For instance he does not give any reason why the readers should be angry. Most people will say somethin...
Holloway, Carson. "Profiling and the Constitution." Public Discourse. N.p., n. d. Web. 4 Mar. 2014. .
Recently in global news, the name Edward Snowden has became quite popular as he snatched millions of people’s attention along with breaking news headlines. Snowden released numerous documents via internet that were private to the NSA; these leaks revealed the dirty work the NSA and government have ...
Keck, Zachary. "Yes, Edward Snowden Is a Traitor." The Diplomat. N.p., 21 Dec. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2014
While the words Traitor and Hero are easy to define and understand it is the perspective of the viewer and society they exist within that gives the words relevance. A Traitor to one may be a Hero to another. In this Essay the researcher hopes to demonstrate that Edward Snowden is both a Hero and a Traitor.
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
Journalist or Terrorist Julian Assange, an Australian editor, activist, journalist and publisher, launched the WikiLeaks website in the year 2006. From that moment, the site spiraled rapidly into the limelight all over the world. It then came to be known as the most powerful whistle-blowing and also the most scandalous “media” in the online world. WikiLeaks profans and violates the right of privacy, right of accountability and confidentiality among Information and data sharing also it has a negative impact on governments, private sectors or businesses and also individuals, there is also a big question of accountability. Right of privacy, right of accountability and confidentiality are some of the rights that you acquire being a citizen of the country and when these rights are violated it is an offence.
The old proverb “the Pen is mightier than the sword” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy) still holds significance in protecting of public rights. Words such as freedom, and liberty engendered the idea for democracy. Such words formed into sentences and paragraphs enlightened the public to take action against tyranny and corruption. Freedom of the press is what ensured the general masses of their public rights. The exemplary case in which the freedom of the press played a role was the endeavors of Woodward and Bernstein to unravel the corrupted politics behind the Watergate Scandal. The movie All the President’s Men depicts the proceedings of the Watergate scandal, the scheme to attack the crux of democracy: “ the open election”. Also how the two journalists of the Washington Post progressed to unveil the relationship between the Watergate Burglary and the White House. On one hand, the movie represents the role of the media in its obligation to convey the truth to the masses. On the other hand, the movie reflects political corruption and conspiracy. The accomplishment of Woodward and Bernstein presents the importance of the interaction between the media, the government, and the general masses of society. The role of the media is not only to intervene between the State and the public, but also to take account of public ideas and to apply those ideas to new policies. Also, the media acts as a safeguard to prevent the corruption of the State. Thus, the Watergate scandal signifies the significance of the media as an intermediary between the government and the public mass.
The attacks on American soil that solemn day of September 11, 2001, ignited a quarrel that the grade of singular privacy, need not be given away in the hunt of grander security. The security measures in place were planned to protect our democracy and its liberties yet, they are merely eroding the very existence with the start of a socialistic paradigm. Benjamin Franklin (1759), warned more than two centuries ago: “they that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Implementing security measures comes at a cost both economically and socially. Government bureaucrats can and will utilize information for personal political objectives. The Supreme Court is the final arbitrator of what the ‘law is”, causing a lack of circulated rule. The actual leaders with political purposes jeopardize our individual privacy rights, liberties, and freedoms.
Strickland, Lee. "Without Civil Liberties Homeland Security Will Fall." University of Maryland. N.p., 23 Dec. 2005. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. .