Snowden and WikiLeaks Clash Over How to Disclose Secrets

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They may both support the dissemination of government secrets, but Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks seem to disagree on how best to do it. On July 28, Snowden, the former government contractor who released a trove of National Security Agency documents and now lives in exile in Russia, credited WikiLeaks, a clearinghouse for similar disclosures, with furthering the cause of transparency but also criticized its unfiltered approach. "Democratizing information has never been more vital, and @Wikileaks has helped. But their hostility to even modest curation is a mistake," he tweeted. His words prompted a swift and cutting reply from WikiLeaks, which had once come to his aid.

Snowden, it suggested, was trying to ingratiate himself with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, just days after WikiLeaks had released embarrassing emails showing that Democratic Party officials had derided the campaign of her main rival in the primary, Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT). "Opportunism won't earn you a pardon from Clinton & curation is not censorship of ruling party cash flows," replied Wikileaks on twitter. WikiLeaks is often criticized for releasing documents without editing or regard for the sensitive information they may contain. Snowden, on the other hand, has said that he chose to work with journalists in 2013 to selectively release the NSA documents in order to limit the harmful consequences of exposing what he called the abuses of government surveillance. The exchange was all the more striking in light of the past collaboration between Snowden and the group, which helped him as he sought to find a place to settle into exile.


Snowden and WikiLeaks Clash Over How to Disclose Secrets