It's important that we elevate and primarily focus on the rights of American citizens, but it's also important that we don't forget, 95 percent of the world's population lives beyond our own borders.
Edward SnowdenRead
Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability in governance over the fear of retaliation for speaking out against wrongdoing.
Edward Snowden's quote highlights the detrimental effects of a government system that intimidates its citizens into silence regarding misconduct. It underscores the belief that a transparent society, where individuals can report wrongdoing without fear of reprisal, is essential for the public good and accountability in leadership.
Themes
TransparencyAccountabilityWhistleblowerGovernmentPublic Interest
In practice
Example use cases
Citing this quote during a discussion on whistleblower protection laws.
More from Edward Snowden
All quotes →I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal.
Edward SnowdenRead
Congress hasn't declared war on the countries - the majority of them are our allies - but without asking for public permission, NSA is running network operations against them that affect millions of innocent people. And for what? So we can have secret access to a computer in a country we're not even fighting?
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A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.
Edward SnowdenRead
Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American, and the more panicked talk we hear from people like him... the better off we all are.
Edward SnowdenRead
I don't see myself as a hero because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.
Edward SnowdenRead
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