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In 2013, Edward Snowden, former IT intelligence worker for the CIA, Booz Allen and the NSA, became a household name and the most wanted man in the world. A whistle-blower in today’s society, Snowden released a number of classified documents belonging to the NSA: in the process, revealing the governments surveillance security program PRISM; a program which allows access to widespread materials such as emails, chat messages, search histories and live webcams. Seeking Asylum in Moscow, he has been labelled many things, but what is questionable is whether the actions made are ethically justified. Applying the following philosophical models: Utilitarianism, Kantian’s Categorical Imperative, Objectivism and the Social Contract Theory; his actions
will be analysed. The question is, is Edward Snowden a traitor or a hero? Utilitarianism, a contemporary moral theory, believes in ‘acting for the greater good’. Jeremy Bentham, a well-known utilitarian, is largely responsible for the reformation of the theory in the 1800’s, having a bigger impact on philosophical work in the 21st century. Utilitarianism explores the idea that the ‘ends justify the means’, meaning that the consequences do not matter as much as actions/intent. Edward Snowden's actions against the NSA were unethical in concerns to the Utilitarian perspective. While he had good intentions, the consequences on the NSA and himself were quite jarring. Snowden had to leave behind his loved ones and flee the country as he faced imprisonment or even death, persecuted by many. He was quoted to say:
Glenn Greenwald, a talented and widely read columnist on civil liberties for the Guardian newspaper, failed in his attempt to alarm his readers to the flagrant and widespread violations of American privacy. Although his article was full of facts, documentation, and quotes from top rank officials, the article did not convey any sense of wrong doing or outrage. Rather it was dull, lacked passion and a sense of persuasion. In fact, the only attention grabbing part in the whole article is the title.
After September 11th, Americans looked to the government for protection and reassurance. However, they did not expect to find out thirteen years later that the government did this by using technology to spy on Americans, as well as other countries. George W. Bush began the policy shortly after the terrorist attack and Barack Obama continued it. There have been many confrontations over the years about the extent of the N.S.A.’s spying; however, the most recent whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, leaked information that caused much upset throughout America (EFF). It has also brought many people to question: is he a hero or a traitor?
Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as technology is changing. In order for us to continue living in the new digital decade, we must accept the government’s ability to surveil us.
If someone broke the law trying to help the American keep their constitutional rights, would you consider them a hero or a criminal? Well that’s exactly what’s going on today with Edward Snowden. In 2013 Edward Snowden leaked classified information to the American people, information that shined a light on the dark things that the U.S government was doing behind closed doors. He revealed that the U.S government has been going against the constitution and taking away our freedoms. The U.S government has been taking away our freedoms however, Snowden is being called the criminal. Thesis Statement here.
In early June 2013, Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former defense contractor who had access to NSA database while working for an intelligence consulting company, leaked classified documents reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is recording phone calls of millions of Americans along with gathering private data and spying foreign Internet activity. The Washington Post later broke the news disclosed PRISM, a program can collect data on Internet users. The leaked documents publicly stated a vast objection. Many people were shocked by the scale of the programs, even elected representatives were unaware of the surveillance range. A nationwide debate over privacy rights have been sparked. Although supporters claim that the NSA only does its best to protect the United States from terrorists as well as respecting Americans' rights and privacy, many civil rights advocates feel that the government failed to be clear about the limit of the surveillance programs, threatening Americans' civil...
In May of 2013 Edward Snowden who was then working at a National Security Agency office in Oahu, Hawaii began copying top secret documents that belonged to the American government as he believed the documentation contained unethical and immoral content that he believed the American people and the world in general needed to know about. (Snowden, 2014) The documentation that he collated contained information regarding projects such as Prism, which is a top secret NSA surveillance program that has the ability to access the data servers of some of America's large...
There are many ethical issues in the movie Erin Brockovich. This movie is about a mother of three who uncovers a water poisoning case by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) in southern California. Once it was proved that the company had knowingly dumped hexavalent chromium into the ground water, the utility company was found liable for a $330 million dollar verdict.
Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.
Now, the debate rages on: Is Edward Snowden an American hero or an American villain. The United States government wants to bring treason and espionage against him for leaking some of the most confidential government secrets, but, what most people didn’t know before this whole debacle was that the government was uncontrollably spying on its people using any type of phone, tablet, or computer, Now the government’s response to the outrage of the people would be that they are protecting them from possible terrorists, but some may still ask the question of: Is the government violating my privacy? After gathering all the information, it is up to you to decide: Is Edward Snowden an American hero for exposing to the people of the U.S. the government’s dirty spying secrets or is he an American traitor guilty of espionage and treason?
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
Many people have mixed feelings about how they should differentiate Edward Snowden as a hero or a traitor. It is true what he had done was unjust and could have been handled another way without all the drama and getting nicknamed traitor by many and hero by few. His act on the NSA forced him into making a deal with Russia to stay at an asylum for a year, because some people in Russia believed in what he had done and did not doubt him unlike some people who thought of Snowden as a traitor to the government. There has been many polls, articles and interviews on Edward Snowden and how people thinks about his act of “exposing” the NSA for spying into the citizens personal life. Some may differ with Snowden by saying, what the NSA is doing is to protect the pe...
Terminal F: An Edward Snowden Documentary follows the journey of Edward Snowden, the man who leaked secret information on how the NSA gathers intelligence, as he tries to find safety from the United States government. The documentary begins in June of 2013 when Snowden first leaked the information. When his identity was exposed, the media and the government began a hunt to find out where he was staying. After analyzing the video interview he had done about the NSA information, it was found that he was staying in a hotel in Hong Kong. The United States government immediately set to work to try to extricate him back to the country. However, by working with members of the WikiLeaks team he was able to make passage to Moscow, Russia because
The world erupted in outrage following revelations by Edward Snowden regarding the extent of surveillance perform by the National Security Agency. Privacy becomes one of the hottest topic of 2013 and was chosen by the world’s most popular online dictionary, Dictionary.com, as the Word of the Year. However, the government is not the only one that conduct data gathering and surveillance. Employers often monitor their employees, and businesses collect data on theirs customer. The morality of these practices is a topic that generates heated debate.
It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.
Enron was on the of the most successful and innovative companies throughout the 1990s. In October of 2001, Enron admitted that its income had been vastly overstated; and its equity value was actually a couple of billion dollars less than was stated on its income statement (The Fall of Enron, 2016). Enron was forced to declare bankruptcy on December 2, 2001. The primary reasons behind the scandal at Enron was the negligence of Enron’s auditing group Arthur Andersen who helped the company to continually perpetrate the fraud (The Fall of Enron, 2016). The Enron collapse had a huge effect on present accounting regulations and rules.