From 6 June 2013, media reported on secret US documents on global mass surveillance by secret services. However, many secrets lie dormant in the Snowden treasure trove, the publication of which is prevented by the state and the media.
At the end of May 2013, Edward Snowden landed in Hong Kong with an arsenal of secret documents, which first became public on 6 June 2013 via the British newspaper “Guardian”. The material came from the National Security Agency (NSA); Snowden, who was 29 at the time, had been employed by the US military intelligence service for four years as an external employee. The leaks show how US authorities monitor digital communications on a massive scale and have developed software and technology to do so. He could not in good conscience allow the government in Washington to destroy “private life, internet freedom and fundamental liberties” worldwide, the whistleblower said of his motivation. The US government is therefore prosecuting him on charges of espionage; if he returns, he faces decades in prison.
According to the leaks, German secret services also benefited from the surveillance tools. The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) used them to listen to masses of internet traffic at the De-Cix data node in Frankfurt. The German agency passed on the knowledge gained from this to the NSA. There they were used for drone attacks, whose data streams ran via Ramstein Air Base. At the same time, the US intelligence services themselves also wiretapped in the Federal Republic, including for example the then Chancellor Angela Merkel and arms companies.
While the revelations shook the world for some time, in recent years – also due to the influence of politics and intelligence services – hardly any media have dealt with the documents provided by Snowden. He continues to live in Moscow with his wife, who comes from the USA, and their two sons, who were born there. In autumn 2022, the 39-year-old received Russian citizenship.
From Russia, Snowden regularly speaks at international conferences on surveillance issues. Among other things, the whistleblower demands the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Snowden also campaigned for the asylum of refugees who had hidden him in Hong Kong for several days; they now live in Canada. Snowden has around 5.7 million followers on Twitter. Most recently, he criticised the EU Commission’s push for chat control, which would monitor all encrypted communication on mobile phones.
Image: Edward Snowden on a conference (Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, Edward Snowden (51367548826), CC BY-SA 2.0).
