"Liberty is the right to act without permission", says Edward Snowden in part two of the extensive interview. He speaks about pervasive surveillance programs such as PRISM and about government officials including US presidents who never get punished for their wrongdoing. "Faith in elected leaders to fix our problems", Snowden continues, "is the mistake that we keep repeating. If we are waiting for a hero we will be waiting forever", he remarks referring to ex-President Obama who expanded mass surveillance in spite of promises to the contrary. Not only the US are legalizing mass surveillance; in the UK "the most extreme surveillance law in the history of the modern world", the "Investigatory Powers Act", was recently passed with the support of Theresa May. Russia and China also have passed draconic legislation. "Words are changing their meaning": more and more often, social protest and even journalism is labelled as "terrorism" by state agencies and prosecuted with authoritarian means. But there is hope in the fact that opposition to power abuse cannot be shut down in the long. "The conversation cannot be stopped". Asked about his current life, he concludes: "I wake up every morning and smile, glad for the decisions I took".
Edward Snowden, whistleblower and civil rights activist, former CIA and NSA employee
Transcript coming soon ...
