An investigative journalist says National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden is a Å“hero” that has shown Å“greater leadership than President Obama”.
Å“Edward Snowden is a hero,” because when he exposed the scale of the NSAâ„¢s spying, Å“he created a national conversation and some people are coming out against it” Philip Weiss said in a phone interview with Press TV on Thursday.
Å“I think that Americans are very upset by what Edward Snowden has revealed,” Weiss said referring to Snowdenâ„¢s releasing of classified documents which showed how the NSA spies on the phone and Internet records of ordinary people across the globe.
Å“Edward Snowden has shown greater leadership than President Obama because Obama is now following Snowden. Obama is saying we have to stop some of this activity, itâ„¢s gone too far,” Weiss added.
He also talked about an open letter that a coalition of eight major US technology companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter and AOL) sent to President Obama against the NSA surveillance programs complaining that they have hurt publicâ„¢s Å“trust” and their business. In the letter, the companies called for sweeping changes to current laws.
Å“The fact that these companies have come out and said we do not want to be a party to it is to me an indication of the fact that the American people are opposed” to the US governmentâ„¢s spying programs, Weiss pointed out.
He also said we should remember that Å“these companies do have to worry about public opinion in the United States.”
Leaders of tech giants warned President Obama during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday that NSA spying programs are damaging the nationâ„¢s economy and technology firms.
IBM, AT&T and Verizon Communications said their shareholders are angry about the NSAâ„¢s surveillance programs and that some of the clients have even filed lawsuits demanding that the companies should disclose their participation in the controversial programs, according to The Washington Post
The meeting on Tuesday came a day after a federal judge ruled that the super spy agencyâ„¢s program to collect Americansâ„¢ phone records is unconstitutional.
Technology giants have recently increased pressure on the Obama administration to curb the surveillance programs.
According to the newspaper, several of the executives came to the meeting angered over The Washington Post report in later October that revealed the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ, were gaining access to the data connections that link Google and Yahoo servers around the world.
AN/ISH
Source: Press TV