The charges [government] brought against me, for example, explicitly denied my ability to make a public-interest defense. — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest. — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
I think the public still isn't aware of the frequency with which the cyber-attacks, as they're being called in the press, are… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The public needs to know the kinds of things a government does in its name, or the 'consent of the governed' is… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
All I can say right now is the U.S. government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
These activities can be misconstrued, misinterpreted, and used to harm you as an individual, even without the government having any intent to… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The issue is we're losing leverage. Governments are increasingly getting more power and we are increasingly losing our ability to control that… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Nobody's going to vote for terrorism. So our governments don't have that sort of political pressure to act in a responsible manner… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Acting Government officials, they said they wanted - they would be happy, they would love to put a bullet in my head,… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The authoritarian one believed that an individual's rights were basically provided by governments and were determined by states. The other society -… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
We have a media that goes along with the government by parroting phrases intended to provoke a certain emotional response - for… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
I'm not a politician, and I do not think I am as effective in this way as people who actually prepare for… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
I think that's actually what's missing from government, for the most part. We've got a lot of policy people, but we have… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
We don't have a great clash of civilizations, a clash of ideologies, a clash of alternative models, where governments thought to themselves,… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The reality is if we sit back and allow a few officials behind closed doors to launch offensive attacks without any oversight… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
If I and other whistleblowers are sentenced to long years in prison without so much as a chance to explain our motivations… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
At the trial of Chelsea Manning, the government could point to no case of specific damage that had been caused by the… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
A political decision has been made not to irritate the intelligence community. The spy agencies are really embarrassed, they're really sore -… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
When we talk about the assertion of basically new government privileges with weak or no justification, we don't even have to look… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Going all the way back to Daniel Ellsberg, it is clear that the government is not concerned with damage to national security,… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Look at the reactions of liberal governments to the surveillance revelations during the last years. In the United States, we've got this… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Too often we forget that social and political movements don't happen overnight. They don't bring change immediately - you have to build… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Ultimately, if people lose their willingness to recognize that there are times in our history when legality becomes distinct from morality, we… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Before 2013, if you said the NSA was making records of everybody's phone calls and the [Government Communications Headquarters] was monitoring lawyers… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Our rights are not granted by governments. They are inherent to our nature. But it's entirely the opposite for governments: their privileges… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
You have ceded the concept of your own rights. You've converted them into something you get as a revocable privilege from the… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
We have these traditional political parties that are less and less responsive to the needs of ordinary people, so people are in… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Let's put it this way. The United States government has assembled a massive investigation team into me personally, into my work with… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The majority of people in developed countries spend at least some time interacting with the Internet, and Governments are abusing that necessity… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Governments cannot require individuals, they cannot require the public as a body, and they cannot require corporations to make investigation and law… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Has the center of gravity shifted such that all governments have greater powers and fewer restrictions than they ever had, and are… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
You don't need to justify your rights as a citizen - that inverts the model of responsibility. The government must justify its… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
From the very beginning, I said there are two tracks of reform: there's the political and the technical. I don't believe the… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
We should know at least the broad strokes of the powers that the government's claiming in our name, and using allegedly, on… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Technology provides us means outside of governments to begin enforcing our rights, enforcing protection of civil liberties, regardless of law, through the… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
The government would assert that individuals who are aware of serious wrongdoing in the intelligence community should bring their concerns to the… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
If you seek to help, join the open source community and fight to keep the spirit of the press alive and the… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Society really seems to have developed an unquestioning obedience towards spooky types… Did we get to where we are today via a… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be. — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world. I… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
As a general rule, so long as you have any choice at all, you should never route through or peer with the UK under… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
[Brazil] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
You are also asked to take an oath, and that's the oath of service. The oath of service is not to secrecy, but to… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
We need to think about encryption not as this sort of arcane, black art. It's a basic protection. — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
A lot of people in 2008 voted for Obama. I did not vote for him. I voted for a third party. But I believed… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
Too often we forget that social and political movements don't happen overnight. They don't bring change immediately - you have to build a critical… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
There was a real choice when [Barack Obama] became president. It was a very difficult choice - to say, "We're not going to hold… — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
We've learned that we've allowed technological capabilities to dictate policies and practices, rather than ensuring that our laws and values guide our technological capabilities. — Edward Snowden Copy Share Image
![“The charges [government] brought against me, for example, explicitly denied my ability to make a public-interest defense.” quote by Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/252/edward-snowden-555_ability_the-charges-government-brought-against-m_1443558.jpg)
![“Before 2013, if you said the NSA was making records of everybody's phone calls and the [Government Communications Headquarters] was monitoring lawyers and journalists, people raised eyebrows and called you a conspiracy theorist. Those days are over.” quote by Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e0e/edward-snowden-555_communication_before-2013-if-you-said-the-nsa-was-maki_1387484.jpg)
![“[Brazil] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data sovereignty."” quote by Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/af7/edward-snowden-555_brazil_brazil-went-to-the-un-and-said-we-need-n_14906.jpg)
![“There was a real choice when [Barack Obama] became president. It was a very difficult choice - to say, "We're not going to hold senior officials to account with the same laws that every other citizen in the country is held to," or "This is a nation that believes in the rule of law."” quote by Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/104/edward-snowden-555_accounts_there-was-a-real-choice-when-barack-obam_27838.jpg)
