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Ask HN: How can Snowden stay in Russia as of March 2022?

18 points by tmp76785289978 ↗ HN
With the current context, I'm wondering how a person like Snowden who seemed to highly value transparency, privacy, ... can stay in Russia. He most likely isn't free to move or speak, but anyway, it is intriguing me. Any ideas?

19 comments

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gostsamo
Does he have any choice though? Can anyone else offer him protection from US prosecution?
benlumen
And to think - he was perfectly placed to be on the right side of this thing, doing national cybersecurity.

As an idealistic, naive teenager, I agreed with him and thought him a hero. I've gotten older and changed my views.

Yet he's attached his whole life to his. I wonder what he really thinks now?

gostsamo
He is not hero for me, yet, what he did was important to shape the discourse and inform people for the dangers that their politicians were hiding.
yucky
>he was perfectly placed to be on the right side of this thing

On the one side there is Snowden who provided irrefutable evidence that the NSA was illegally surveilling it's own citizens. On the other side, there is the NSA who violated our rights and continues to violate our rights, all with no repercussions.

So how was he not on the right side?

benlumen
I meant of the situation now. He's literally exiled in Russia when he could have been working to protect us against Russia.
thinkingemote
Has he made any statement or blog posts since the invasion?
ColinHayhurst
Nothing on his blog since December 23. Only one tweet, Feb 27: "I'm not suspended from the ceiling above a barrel of acid by a rope that burns a little faster every time I tweet, you concern-trolling ghouls. I've just lost any confidence I had that sharing my thinking on this particular topic continues to be useful, because I called it wrong."
medstrom
That's great to see, someone changing their behavior after a mis-prediction.

(For context, he thought Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine)

t-3
Snowden strikes me as an egotistical idealist who wanted to be a hero. I think he thought he could make a difference, that the American people would rise up, and he would be able to return in glory. When he had to choose between his life and his integrity, he chose to forego martyrdom, which is completely understandable.
WallyFunk
> Snowden strikes me as an egotistical idealist who wanted to be a hero

Well he is a hero. The whole web has gone dark after the revelations. People already knew the NSA were spying, but he had tangible facts for people to chew on, and alter their behavior after the fact.

t-3
I don't necessarily disagree, but the American people and government obviously do. He is not a hero in the US, for 99% of the population he will be at best a martyr, at worst a traitor.
ecf
> Well he is a hero

He could be a Russian agent for all we know

WallyFunk
His background is well documented and legit though. The 'Russian agent' idea sounds neat, but it's not plausible enough.
c7DJTLrn
What is this supposed to mean? Why does Snowden living in Russia mean that he sponsors or supports the endeavours of the crazed man at the top? He has said before he would gladly return to the USA when he can be guaranteed a fair trial. Until then he's between a rock and a hard place.
glandium
Has the US unblocked his passport?
EquitableEqual
Snowden did not choose Russia.. he's always been stuck in transit there. He is not able to leave.
crate_barre
In retrospect, I find it odd that some random US citizen would even do what he did. Who amongst us are that altruistic, that courageous? It’s in the realm of possibility this guy was compromised awhile ago (he even knew when to flee the country, where to go, who to tell).

Would you know to do all those things?

jwgiureahgiure
Dear internet surfers, and Russian President Vladimir Putin,

it's all fake, snowden is CGI just like paul walker. anonymous is the NSA, nobody hell, nobody can get away with the amount of shit anonymous has done. I live next to an NSA agent, and guess what. honestly, there is no snowden, if anything it was a reference to a "mistake I did" while intoxicated on hallucinogens (because i was outside there was a bunch of snow, and I slipped on ice and fell into a "snowden", and honestly i'm glad i did because i'd be missing half my face and my skull would be cracked open, I guess my NSA neighbor must have saw that), that's why I'm paranoid. either way that's a bit farfetched. I don't reside nearby currently.

All I have to say is all those fake news, that are either edgy, or too good to be true (such as anonymous), it's the fucking u.s.a government. you have to be a retarded american to belive such crap. 99.9% of united states falls into that category. and i'm still mad because the county i'm living in is attempting to imprison me for the wrong crimes, because I wanted a woman, literally if you live next to a government agent, they will attempt to turn you gay. literally, i did nothing wrong and these shitbags who don't wash their ass in the shower, hell my whole porch smelled like someone shat in their pants after a cop visited (lake county sherrif). they try to imprison me for no reason, because of my NSA neighbor, i know too much about their jackoff business.

long story short, there is no anonymous, you can call yourself anonymous, but anonymous is a coverup name for N.S.A. where, just like police, they have nothing else to do. edward snowden was fake, it was all a shitshow, CGI, and a deal with russia and putin so dumbasses like you can believe it. if "snowden" did exist, americans would be bitching and moaning about the whereabouts of him as current. he does not exist. the NSA and FBI/CIA just warned people not to leak information otherwise you'll be under putins rule. hell, i don't even care about putin too much, the fucking ukrainians used to murder polish people with knives and spears and everybody, even the celebrities jack off about it, and they're with ukraine. they should chop up that ukalele president into dog chew. they killed polaks like nothing else about 60-80 years ago, look it up. if i were president of poland, i'd make a concentration camps for each uke jacking off into my nation.

one last request, if Vladimir Putin were to test nuclear weapons, please send your low-medium strength nukes to gurnee, illinois. specifically grantwood park,, please fuck that area more than kim jong un in his nuclear testing field. I will pay back with military service in russia. the bitch that lives there has offended me more than the ukrainians. and honestly, as aggressive ("drunk on 96% spirit) as I am now, I do not blame you for the attacks on ukraine.

I will write a personal letter to president Vladimir Putin about this case, because the fascist cops of lake county will not fuck off. I want gurnee, and lake county offices gone with nuclear weapons, and I will provide my knowledge, resources, and service to the russian military.

I await a response from a serious gov. official. whether it's "nsa trying to calm me down", or an actual russian government representative. I have ideas, and things that should be patented on my HDD where there would be minimal casualties in the fucking ukraine war.

provided I get the protection I need from war, and the supplements I need to function in society, I am willing to convert to a russian citizen. I will share my patents and ideas and this 'war' can be won.

I'm staring on my letter now, since I did not get a dismissal of "offenses" I have not done. I am sure there will be a time where gurnee, illinois will be torn to shreds because of the swingers, polygamists, traitors, and sex addicts that live there.