Edward Snowden speaks: US blackout of interview (Updated with new video source)

By Charlton Stanley, Weekend Contributor

NSA logo smallLast Sunday, former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden was interviewed for the German television network ARD.  The interview was big news in Germany and much of the world in both print and broadcast media. However, the interview appears to have been blocked intentionally by US government authorities. In fact, the media in the US appears to have gone to ‘radio silence’ about it. It has been posted on YouTube several times, but is taken down almost immediately.  The video site Vimeo has it embedded, but as I write this, Vimeo is under a DDoS attack.  LiveLeak also has it, and that video is embedded in this report by Jay Syrmopoulos for  Ben Swann’s news page.

Mr. Snowden spoke candidly in a thirty-minute English language interview with the reporter from ARD.

He says his “breaking point” was “seeing Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress.” That was when Clapper denied the existence of a domestic spying programs when he testified before Congress in March of last year. Snowden added, “The public had a right to know about these programs. The public had a right to know that which the government is doing in its name, and that which the government is doing against the public.”

In case Ben Swann’s page is taken down, along with the LiveLeak video, here is the interview on Vimeo. Offered without commentary, since Edward Snowden can speak for himself.

Update:
An internet search revealed the Edward Snowden interview is up on Rutube.  It is a Russian video site somewhat similar to YouTube. The text is in Russian and doesn’t have an English language version.  I have a feeling Rutube will not be as knee-jerk responsive to take-down orders from western countries.
Here is the Snowden interview as presented on Rutube.  WordPress does not support Rutube for embedding, but this link will take you to the interview:

103 thoughts on “Edward Snowden speaks: US blackout of interview (Updated with new video source)”

  1. “War on Anonymous: British Spies Attacked Hackers, Snowden Docs Show”

    By Mark Schone, Richard Esposito, Matthew Cole and Glenn Greenwald, Special Contributor

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/war-anonymous-british-spies-attacked-hackers-snowden-docs-show-n21361

    “A secret British spy unit created to mount cyber attacks on Britain’s enemies has waged war on the hacktivists of Anonymous and LulzSec, according to documents taken from the National Security Agency by Edward Snowden and obtained by NBC News.

    The blunt instrument the spy unit used to target hackers, however, also interrupted the web communications of political dissidents who did not engage in any illegal hacking. It may also have shut down websites with no connection to Anonymous.”

    (http://www.wired.com/opinion/2014/02/comes-around-goes-around-latest-snowden-revelation-isnt-just-dangerous-anonymous-us/)

  2. All the bioengineering research I have done which I have been able to develop into a form I deem suitable for public access has either been put into the public domain by me, or has been published with a Creative Commons license.

    I regard it as absolutely unethical to privatize public safety. To “corporatize” public safety through making it the property of corporations (as fictitious persons) is to make public safety itself fictitious.

    For me to accept, tolerate. avow, or allow, of my own will and effort, the privatization of public safety would constitute, in my view, an unmitigatable violation of the Code of Ethics of the National Society of Professional Engineers, of which Society I am a member.

    The transcript of that Snowden interview appears to be readily accessible in the U.S.A.; I downloaded it without difficulty.

    Die Wahrheit macht frei?

  3. Interesting that Vimeo has put up a screenshot saying the video does not exist. I am not going to try to find a replacement. The absence of the video that was here at the time I posted speaks volumes.

  4. @PJD: “The notice in place of the video states that ARD itself requested removal due to copyright infringement. Is this credible?”

    The producer and copyright holder — Cinecenter — has licensed NDR/ARD only for Germany.

  5. barabajagal,
    It is up on Vimeo right now. Below the video there is a download button where you can follow the directions and save to your computer as an mp4 file. You may want to do that before it disappears again.

  6. Al Jazeera America advertised that it was going to broadcast Snowden’s interview. I did not tune in. Does anyone know if they did this broadcast? I tried a Google search to find out. I could not find out any info.

  7. This interview is now off of Vimeo. The notice in place of the video states that ARD itself requested removal due to copyright infringement. Is this credible?

  8. Charlton:

    Cannot thank you enough for making this video available! I’ll forward this page to family, friends, and colleagues, with the hope that JT readers ensure this video “goes viral” (as the kids say).

  9. Snowden alluded to it, but it’s important to remember the NSA is just one of at least 15 US intelligence-gathering agencies currently in operation. Food for thought.

    1. “Snowden alluded to it, but it’s important to remember the NSA is just one of at least 15 US intelligence-gathering agencies currently in operation. Food for thought.”

      Not only that, some seem to be building strong relations and influencing the activities of local law reinforcement. There have been troubling reports of close cooperation between NYPD and CIA.

      There was a time when there was a firewall between LE and national security intelligence. Since 9/11 that wall seems to have been removed.

  10. I’ve tried to inform people about what is going on in our country by posting links on Face book (as that is the media where I can reach the highest number of people), and ya know what i’m finding out?

    People don’t care.

    People don’t care, or they are too busy with justin beiber and the super bowl to pay attention.

    My posts are ignored, especially when they contain links to this site.

    I think deep down we all know what’s coming – and it’s too scary for most people to acknowledge or even think about.

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