A case for Edward Snowden

January 15, 2025 by Susan Lawson

There was a time when the mere mention of Edward Snowden’s name stirred a visceral reaction in me. I thought he was a traitor who had betrayed his country by leaking classified information from the National Security Agency.

Like many Americans, I was swept up in the tide of post-9/11 patriotism, a sentiment that, in hindsight, was both genuine and grossly manipulated. It wasn’t until I heard Snowden speak a year or two after he defected to Russia that I realized how I had been bamboozled by my government. Edward Snowden wasn’t a turncoat; he was a man who carried out his moral obligation as a citizen in response to his insider’s knowledge of the corruption of our intelligence agencies, acting with ruthless precision again its citizenry — and its closest allies.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, fear consumed the nation. We were told that the tragedy was the result of unprovoked aggression by foreign enemies intent on destroying our way of life. That fear was weaponized to usher in a new era of surveillance and control. The PATRIOT Act, signed into law by President Bush, was sold to us as a necessary tool to protect Americans from terrorism. In reality, it disintegrated the constitutional rights that had long defined our nation, giving the government unprecedented authority to surveil its own citizens. It continues to wield this authority over us to this day.

Making matters worse was the deception that followed. The war in Iraq, predicated on the claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, turned out to be based on false intelligence—an outright lie. These events, fueled by fearmongering and a manipulated sense of patriotism, set the stage for a government emboldened to operate outside the bounds of morality and legality.

When Snowden came forward in 2013, he revealed what many suspected but couldn’t prove: the government’s surveillance programs had gone far beyond the authority granted by the PATRIOT Act. The NSA wasn’t just monitoring suspected terrorists; it was collecting data on millions of ordinary Americans. Phone calls, emails, internet activity — nothing was off-limits. Snowden’s revelations exposed a level of overreach that was not only illegal, but wholly unconstitutional.

At the time, I couldn’t see it. I viewed Snowden’s actions as a personal affront to the nation I loved. I didn’t understand the magnitude of the corruption he was exposing. Like many others, I bought in to the narrative that painted him as a traitor. But when I finally forced myself to listen to him, my anger gave way to shock and then disgust. I was not naïve to government corruption, but it wasn’t until I learned of the calculated ways our government leaders orchestrated illusions to achieve their means that I realized I had been wrong about everything regarding Edward Snowden, 9/11, and the Iraq War.

I came to realize that Snowden wasn’t reckless or cavalier. He was thoughtful, principled, and deeply committed to the ideals of freedom and privacy. One of his most famous quotes — “arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say” — resonated deeply with me. It underscored the importance of privacy, not just as a personal right, but as a cornerstone of democracy.

What Snowden revealed was part of a larger, systemic erosion of liberty. Under President Obama, the PATRIOT Act’s broad powers were expanded through the PRISM program, a secret NSA initiative that enabled mass surveillance of American citizens and our foreign allies. Initially justified under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to combat terrorism, PRISM granted the NSA access to vast amounts of data from major tech companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook, including emails, video chats, and browsing histories. Though intended for foreign intelligence, the program often swept up the private communications of millions of Americans, bypassing constitutional protections. This unprecedented surveillance, coupled with secret FISA Court rulings, blurred legal boundaries and undermined the Fourth Amendment, exposing a government willing to exploit its authority under the guise of national security. Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 brought these abuses to light, forcing a global reckoning with privacy rights and government overreach.

What Snowden, and later Julian Assange, endured cannot be overstated. They sacrificed their freedom, safety, and reputations to shine a light on abuses of power that most of us were too naïve or uninformed to recognize. Assange’s work through WikiLeaks revealed truths that governments around the world wanted to keep hidden. Together, these men forced us to confront uncomfortable truths about our governments and ourselves.

Edward Snowden taught me that patriotism isn’t blind allegiance — it’s the willingness to hold your government accountable when it violates the principles it claims to uphold. His story is a reminder that freedom and privacy are not guaranteed; they are rights that must be vigilantly defended. Snowden’s revelations were not an attack on America; they were a defense of the ideals that make America worth fighting for.

Susan Lawson has 20 years of experience as a military researcher, writer, and congressional affairs specialist. She has spent the past 15 years as an advocate for meaningful reform to the American health care system through commonsense medical legislation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a Master of Arts degree in professional writing, as well as a Graduate Certificate in legislative studies from Georgetown University.