Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Uncategorized

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. Pingback: Free Soil Party Blog » Blog Archive » Edward Snowden interview
  2. Pingback: Human Rights and Spying – Does Government Spying Violate Human Rights Law? | My name is Asher Hirsch

  9. Snowden Docs: British Spies Used Sex and ‘Dirty Tricks’

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/snowden-docs-british-spies-used-sex-dirty-tricks-n23091

    “British spies have developed “dirty tricks” for use against nations, hackers, terror groups, suspected criminals and arms dealers that include releasing computer viruses, spying on journalists and diplomats, jamming phones and computers, and using sex to lure targets into “honey traps.”

    Documents taken from the National Security Agency by Edward Snowden and exclusively obtained by NBC News describe techniques developed by a secret British spy unit called the Joint Threat Research and Intelligence Group (JTRIG) as part of a growing mission to go on offense and attack adversaries ranging from Iran to the hacktivists of Anonymous. According to the documents, which come from presentations prepped in 2010 and 2012 for NSA cyber spy conferences, the agency’s goal was to “destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt” enemies by “discrediting” them, planting misinformation and shutting down their communications.”

    (…and here in the U.S., as well. COINTELPRO, anyone?)

  12. 02 06 14, alerted to it from another source, i got to see the video in it’s entirety last night; it struck me that Snowden looked just soooo ‘CIA’. Has me wondering if some turf wars might not be a factor in this (“…no such thing as an ‘ex’ CIA officer”). Purely speculative here and there is absolutely no indication at this time of Snowden working in concert with anyone else, but CIA poed about NSA spying on them too? Hm…

    Re: “It has been posted on YouTube several times, but is taken down almost immediately.”
    Now THAT’s t r u l y sinister. The media blackout is a bigger story than the interview itself. Much bigger.

    At this time, there is only a 3min. excerpt of the 30 min. interview available on YouTube, posted by The New York Times. Notably cut is Snowden’s scathing critique of Obama’s response to the leaks, “circling the wagons around government entities rather than around the American public.” With the media blackout, the administration appears to be continuing to “circle the wagons around government entities” rather than American citizens.

  13. Story updated with new video source. Introducing our readers to a Russian language site similar to YouTube, called Rutube.

  18. OS,
    I watched the video again using the link that Andy provided. Mr. Snowden strikes me as the epitome of a whistleblower and the mass media is missing out on actually explaining to the American public and the world, in very simple and understandable terms, just what Snowden did and why he did it. It is also missing out on putting the NSA’s abuses out in the open for all to judge. I was especially interested in the idea that the NSA relies too much on contractors and that it is also spying on corporations everywhere.

  20. The newest article by Greenwald, Esposito (Richard), et al, was published last night. (Link in prior comment at 10:32 am)

Comments are closed.