Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor?

The move taken by Edward Snowden to reveal how the US agencies have been engaging in global surveillance sparked a debate as to whether he can be regarded as a hero or a traitor. Different people have different views. Some regard him as a hero whereas others regard him as a traitor. In order to decide whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor, it is important to apply some of the ethical principles. Consequently, it is the goal of the paper to determine whether Snowden acted ethically or not. The paper will apply both deontological and utilitarian theoretical principles.

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 1
Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor?
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Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 2
Executive summary
The move taken by Edward Snowden to reveal how the US agencies have been engaging
in global surveillance sparked a debate as to whether he can be regarded as a hero or a traitor.
Different people have different views. Some regard him as a hero whereas others regard him as a
traitor. In order to decide whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor, it is important to apply some of
the ethical principles. Consequently, it is the goal of the paper to determine whether Snowden
acted ethically or not. The paper will apply both deontological and utilitarian theoretical
principles.

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 3
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Argument.........................................................................................................................................3
Ethical analysis................................................................................................................................4
Deontological perspective............................................................................................................4
Utilitarian perspective..................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 4
Introduction
The revelations about the massive espionage of the US National Security Agency, made
by former CIA employee Edward Snowden, have been a shock to the international community.
The author of the leaks has been labeled a "traitor" in his country. A large part of the
international community considers him a hero. Among his revelations, the espionage carried out
by the US to several European leaders through their mobile phones.
According to Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science at Iowa State University,
with his revelation, Snowden has exposed "a great weakness" in the security of the American spy
systems "and in that sense he did a service to the nation." However, if he has any truly important
knowledge of intelligence operations "and shares it with the Russians and the Chinese or makes
it available to the public" then "he will become an enemy," Schimdt argued (Vanden Heuvel &
Cohen, 2014).
Several congressmen, among them the president of the House of Representatives, the
Republican John Boehner, have not hesitated to describe the young person as "a traitor" for
revealing the existence of two programs that, according to the Government, are protected by the
Constitution and American laws. Along the same lines, the influential Democratic Senator
Dianne Feinstein has branded Snowden's actions as an "act of treason". "I think (Snowden)
should be prosecuted," Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this week at a news
conference (Hertsgaard, 2016 p. 29).
Snowden is in Hong Kong, where he wants to stay and fight against any request for
extradition by the US, as stated. The public opinion US remains very divided about what you
should expect the young and whether acted correctly by filtering the two newspapers secret

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 5
information, according to a survey by the Times Magazine. The survey shows that for 54% of
those interviewed Snowden did "something good", while 30% disagree about it, but 53% think it
should be processed. Up to 70% of young people between 18 and 34 years of age view the
filtering of the CIA technician with good eyes, but that percentage drops to 47% in the group of
people over 55 years of age (Berman, 2016 p.773). Meanwhile, Daniel Ellsberg, the military
analyst who in 1971 leaked the so-called 'Pentagon Papers' about the Vietnam War, has declared
himself "impressed" by the attitude of Snowden, who in his opinion has rendered "an
incalculable service" to the citizens. If he had known the secret programs "I would have done
exactly what (Snowden) has done," admitted Ellsberg, responsible for filtering the documents
that revealed the real situation of the Vietnam War and what the Defense Department thought
about that conflict. The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, who claims to have had contact
with Snowden, described as "hero" the young man and said he has revealed "one of the most
serious events of the decade" (Scherer & Shuster, 2013 p. 78) Assange, refugee in the embassy
of Ecuador in London to avoid his extradition to Sweden, also recommended Snowden to seek
asylum in a Latin American country. The big question is: Who is right between those who
consider Snowden a hero and those who consider him a traitor? To answer this, the next section
of this paper will analyze Snowden’s case and apply deontological and utilitarianism ethics to
decide whether he is a hero or traitor.
Argument
I will demonstrate that although Snowden’s action unleashed a worldwide debate that
changed the laws and helped protect our privacy, he acted unethically by releasing such sensitive
information that can interfere with the American security.

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 6
Ethical analysis
Deontological perspective
From deontological ethical perspective, Snowden can be treated as a traitor. This is
because he violated many rules and laws. Regardless of the reasons that, on international, ethical,
moral and even ideological, could be argued against the intentions of the United States to
prosecute in the courts of his country a former contractor of the National Security Agency (NSA)
and Central of American Intelligence (CIA), it is not right for a person who served for the
company hired by the government to leak confidential information that harms the client for
which he compromised his ethics and professionalism. Confidentiality is at the heart of ethical
issues in the ICT world. Industry professionals are called upon to manipulate masses of data,
some of which may be sensitive (Nolan, 2017, p. 293).
This code, which is online, stipulates, for example, that the self-employed worker must
ensure that his contractual situation with his clients is clear and communicated, and carry out his
mandates with a high level of moral responsibility, integrity and respect (Scherer & Shuster,
2013, p. 78).
It is not good that Snowden has spent a reasonable time having access to confidential
information and then go out and disclose it. If indeed the United States could be missing from its
citizens and the countries with which it has diplomatic relations, neither did Snowden act
responsibly, since it was supposed to know the type of work that the company for which it
worked would do, and to whom that work would be . He did not act in accordance with the
deontological codes that protect his profession, which he was obliged to comply with. If it could
certainly be argued that Snowden acted freely, on the other hand it would be affirmed that he did

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 7
not do so responsibly. To be a free man, you must first be responsible (Scheuerman, 2016 p.
959).
When flying from China to Russia, Snowden has generated a diplomatic flicker between
the three great powers and Ecuador. China, accused by the United States for letting it escape;
Russia, which does not decide to deliver it on the grounds that it has not crossed the border, and
Ecuador dragged into the dispute because the young American would have sought asylum from
that South American nation, which already have the precedent of protecting Julian Assange for
more than a year, the founder of Wikileaks, persecuted for similar reasons (Friedman, 2015).
The Snowden case has geopolitical implications. China acted with intelligence to remove
that Snowden. Russia could have other reasons to keep the young person in "limbo", because it
could serve to pressure him in order to talk with the US government to make his position in the
region more flexible, especially in relation to Syria and Iran (Radack, 2013). We know the role
that the Kremlin has played in international organizations with respect to the governments of
Damascus and Tehran. It is not fortuitous that at the end of last week, and while touring Africa,
tarnished by this case, the president of the United States, Barak Obama, has removed pressure
from the Snowden case, so as not to turn it into the stone in the shoe, having other more relevant
issues such as those that have to do with the territorial control of the area (Shuster, 2017, p. 9).
Consequently, given that Snowden’s move after revealing the secrets about NSA is likely
to result in geopolitical implication, the issue can be considered a form of espionage. One of the
most widespread crimes on the Internet is the spying of information, which is nothing else, than
the secret obtaining of information from a source that does not want to reveal it. According to
international law, espionage is a criminal activity, and is usually defined as a crime of special
gravity deserving maximum penalties, especially when it affects the security of the states (Rae,

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 8
2016 p. 337). The vast majority of countries have official bodies responsible for obtaining
valuable information for their governments, which are often referred to as state intelligence
services. The states, on the other hand, have the obligation to promote and defend the right to
information, to guarantee that their citizens have access to it in a complete, integral and timely
manner, as well as to regulate those factors that may hinder or violate the exercise to this
fundamental right. The role of the state in this field also includes generating or producing that
information that citizens need and can not obtain by other means. Logically, to guarantee the
right to information, states must make adjustments or transformations in almost all fields of
social development (Brownlee, 2016 p. 569).
In networks, espionage is a common action, linked indissolubly to deception, fraud and,
frequently, violence; Sometimes, it requires the disloyalty of those who have privileged
information. In many cases, greed or financial needs are the main motivation, but there may be
others: ambition, ideology, terrorism, as well as the need to obtain secret information to make
decisions in commercial or industrial matters. Competitors are often interested in the strategies of
their opponents and seek information that may discredit them. Some qualify virtual spies as
computer criminals; they, without any scruple, become cybercriminals, totally dehumanized,
constantly lurking in search of new opportunities to commit a crime (Stein, 2013 p. 3).
The construction of an ethical framework in the cybersociety can only be carried out
based on the recognition and respect of the right of access to information and the right to privacy.
And among the elements to consider for their importance when creating an ethical model and
access to information, are: to promote mechanisms that respect copyright, without distinction of
type of medium or means of transmission of information ; respect the right of access to
information and the right to privacy, which are not conflicting; establish the limits between the

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 9
boundary of the general and private interest, as well as the public or private nature of the
information; support the formation of entities that regulate and control the transmission and use
of data in computer networks; develop strategies to protect the privacy or privacy of individuals
and organizations; to train and train, at different educational levels, the common citizen in the
basic concepts of the process of information management, with the aim of creating an awareness
of the benefits and risks of these new tools; as well as defining the values by which the digital
society will be governed. Consequently, if deontological ethics are considered, Snowden is a
traitor (Epstein, 2017, p. 23).
Utilitarian perspective
The other ethical principle that is applicable is utilitarianism principle. Utilitarianism is a
philosophical doctrine that places the utility as a principle of morality. It is a teleological ethical
system that determines the moral conception based on the final result. For Snowden’s case, we
need to understand all the parties affected by the revelation. The first party is the Americans.
According to utilitarianism, we need to ask question such as: Does the Snowden’s action benefits
the public? There is no absolute answer to this question. In fact, the chances of citizens
benefiting from Snowden’s action is low because they will not have any economic or social
benefits. The only benefit they will get is that they will be aware of what is going on (O'Neill,
2016 p. 67). In addition, by deciding to share this information, Edward Snowden unleashed a
worldwide debate that changed the laws and helped protect our privacy. For the first time in
almost 40 years, the United States passed laws to restrict government oversight, and technology
companies such as Apple and WhatsApp are striving more to protect our personal information in
the world.

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 10
The second party affected is the United States Security department. Here, we ask
ourselves: Will the Snowden’s action hinder the security department from achieving its mission
of addressing security issues? The answer is that the security department would be significantly
affected. Considering the fact that terrorists can be detected through communication channels, it
is clear that the move taken by Snowden would make potential terrorists invent new tactics and
reduce the effectiveness of the United States defense against terrorists (Scherer, Kelley, Miller &
Newton-Small, 2013 p. 22).
Conclusion
Edward Snowden’s case is one of the cases that put to test the ethics and professionalism.
It is one of the cases that cannot be resolved easily unless the bigger picture of the whole issue is
considered. Although I supported the fact that Snowden violated ethical and professional
expectation, my arguments are debatable because if the issue is considered from different angle,
he will be regarded as a hero.

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor? 11
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