Edward Snowden Twitter Ban? Republican Candidate George Pataki Wants Whistle Blower Off Twitter


The Edward Snowden Twitter account has only been live for about a day and already there are people calling for the notorious whistle-blower to be banned from the social media site.

George Pataki, former Governer of New York and current Republican presidential candidate, is one of the people leading that call, CNN reports.

“Twitter is a great American company that should not give a platform to terrorists or traitors — @Jack shutdown @Snowden today,” Pataki tweeted to Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey.

He also slammed Snowden for being a traitor to his country and said that he belongs in jail.

George Pataki. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
George Pataki. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

But Pataki’s comments didn’t get a very warm response from many Twitter users.

Glenn Greenwald, one of the journalists Snowden sent classified information to, mocked Pataki by bringing up his less-than-stellar performance in the polls.

“Hi, I’m running for President. My support in all polls is an asterisk.” Glenwald sub-tweeted to Pataki. “And I’m here to say who should and shouldn’t be allowed on Twitter.”

Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden. Photo by Laura Poitras
Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden. Photo by Laura Poitras

But it doesn’t look like the official Edward Snowden Twitter account will be taken down anytime soon.

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey actually welcomed Snowden to Twitter. The account, whose Twitter handle is @Snowden, has one million followers as of this writing.

Not bad for someone who, according to Pataki, is a “traitor who put Americans at risk, hides in Russia and belongs behind bars.”

Edward Snowden is a computer programmer and former CIA employee who is best known for leaking classified document related to the National Security Agency (NSA). Those NSA documents exposed how the security agency accessed American citizens’ private information through a series of interconnected surveillance programs and the compliance of companies like Google and Yahoo. The NSA is the only account Snowden follows on Twitter.

Snowden released the documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Potras, and Ewen McAskill soon after he left his job as an NSA contractor. He has been in exile ever since and currently lives in Russia. The stories based on the classified information Snowden released has been published in the Guardian, the Washington Post, Der Spiegel, and the New York Times.

According to his Wikipedia page, Snowden currently faces federal charges on two counts of violating the Espionage Act and for the theft of government property. Each of the charges carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Snowden has become something of a pop culture figure ever since he became the world’s most-wanted whistleblower.

John Oliver, comedian and host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, traveled to Russia to meet Snowden and conduct the exiled computer programmer’s first major televised sit-down interview since he leaked the NSA docs. The John Oliver-Edward Snowden interview currently has eight million views on Youtube.

Although the interview used the analogy of understanding which surveillance program could potentially see Oliver’s penis, the interview actually gives some insight into the private information the NSA is actually able to see.

The John Oliver-Edward Snowden interview also reiterated the fact that Americans can’t act like they don’t understand what’s going on with the NSA anymore.

“The fact is, we have this information now and we no longer get the luxury of pleading ignorance.” Oliver said to camera at the end of segment. “It’s like you can’t go to SeaWorld and pretend that Shamu is happy anymore, when we now know at least half the water in her tank is whale tears.”

In related Edward Snowden news, the movie about his life is getting a lot of buzz right now. The film, Oliver Stone’s aptly titled Snowden, stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Shailene Woodley. The Snowden movie will be released in 2016.

[Photo of Edward Snowden by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The New Yorker/AFP and George Pataki by Scott Olson/Getty Images]

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