The 9 best moments from Edward Snowden’s Reddit Q&A

The campaign to roll back mass National Security Agency surveillance has reached a critical point. Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the supposed legal justification for the NSA’s big phone records snooping program, is set to expire on June 1. There’s a huge fight in Congress over whether it should be reauthorized, replaced with a new law, or simply just left to die.

Edward Snowden, the leaker who revealed the NSA program in the first place, has some pretty strong feelings about all of this. On May 21, he did a Q&A session on Reddit alongside the American Civil Liberties Union’s Jameel Jaffer. The discussion was an extended, impassioned, and sometimes surprisingly funny case against the American surveillance state. It’s also a window into Snowden’s really intense online fan club.

Here are nine of the most informative answers from the Q&A.

Chiwebdevjsx: My sister works for a three letter agency and whenever I try to have a conversations with her about [surveillance], her reply is always, “if you knew what we knew on the inside you’d know it was different”... What would be your approach to talking with her about the dangers of mass data collection?

Edward Snowden: I think the central issue is to point out that regardless of the results, the ends (preventing a crime) do not justify the means (violating the rights of the millions whose private records are unconstitutionally seized and analyzed).

Some might say “I don’t care if they violate my privacy; I’ve got nothing to hide.” Help them understand that they are misunderstanding the fundamental nature of human rights. Nobody needs to justify why they “need” a right: the burden of justification falls on the one seeking to infringe upon the right. But even if they did, you can’t give away the rights of others because they’re not useful to you.

Masshamacide: What’re your thoughts on Rand Paul’s filibuster against the renewal of the Patriot Act?

Edward Snowden: It represents a sea change from a few years ago, when intrusive new surveillance laws were passed without any kind of meaningful opposition or debate. Whatever you think about Rand Paul or his politics, it’s important to remember that when he took the floor to say “No” to any length of reauthorization of the Patriot Act, he was speaking for the majority of Americans — more than 60% of whom want to see this kind of mass surveillance reformed or ended.

Legionof7: Do you think that a majority of American citizens care enough [about surveillance] that they will call Congress?

Edward Snowden: We know from very recent, non-partisan polling that Americans (and everyone else around the world) care tremendously about mass surveillance. The more central question, from my perspective, is “why don’t lawmakers seem to care?”

The recent Princeton Study on politicians’ responsiveness to the policy preferences of different sections of society [says that] of all groups expressing a policy preference within society, the views of the public at large are given the very least weight, whereas those of economic elites (think bankers, lobbyists, and the people on the Board of Directors at defense contracting companies) exercise more than ten times as much influence on what laws get passed — and what laws don’t.

Noahfischel: During the interview with John Oliver, was that really a picture of his junk in that folder?

Edward Snowden: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) [ed. note: click the link]

Tomcat1108: Even if section 215 is not renewed, do you believe that the NSA/ US government will still accomplish phone surveillance without approval and in secret?

Edward Snowden: There are always reasons to be concerned that regardless of the laws passed, some agencies in government (FBI, NSA, CIA, and DEA, for example, have flouted laws in the past) will misconstrue the intent of Congress in passing limiting laws — or simply disregard them totally...However, that’s no excuse for the public or Congress to turn a blind eye to unlawful or immoral operations — and the kind of mass surveillance happening under Section 215 of the Patriot Act right now is very much unlawful.

Courtiebabe420: What is the next program you’d like to see the USA end in the mass surveillance system?

Jameel Jaffer: The NSA’s call-records program is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dragnet surveillance by the U.S. government. For example, the NSA is copying and searching through vast quantities of internet communications as they transit the internet backbone under a law known as the FISA Amendments Act. The surveillance affects virtually every American who uses the Internet to connect with people overseas —and many who do little more than email their friends or family or browse the web.

Edjca: What do you think about the rise of encrypted messaging apps like Threema and Bleep by Bittorrent? Which (if any) would you recommend?

Edward Snowden: Signal for iOS, Redphone/TextSecure for Android.

123choji: What can we do to help?

Edward Snowden: The first thing is to correct misinformation whenever you see this topic being debated. For example: Supporters of mass surveillance say it keeps us safe. The problem is that that’s an allegation, not a fact, and there’s no evidence at all to support the claim. In fact, a White House review with unrestricted access to classified information found that not only is mass surveillance illegal, it has never made a concrete difference in even one terrorism investigation.

Nonamemini: Do you ever see yourself living back in the United States one day? I hope so!

Edward Snowden: Me too. The White House has been working on that petition for a couple years, now, and the courts have finally confirmed that the 2013 revelations revealed unlawful activity on the part of the government. Maybe they’ll surprise us.