Edward Snowden, former US intelligence contractor and whistleblower, has joined Twitter this Tuesday following only the account of NSA and getting almost a million followers in the process.
Snowden joins Twitter, chats with Neil deGrasse Tyson about water on Mars:
The interwebs just got a little more thrilling today as Snowden joined Twitter following only the account of the National Security Agency, from which he stole electronic documents revealing some dark secrets of the agency and its collaborators in surveillance programs. We can see what you did there, Snowden. After following NSA, his first tweet was, "Can you hear me now?"
What's exciting though, is the chat between one of world's top privacy activists and the geekiest (Tyson might not approve of this) astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Snowden hasn't joined Twitter to talk about his super "secret project," but cats and Mars. You heard that right! He chatted to Tyson about water on Mars and quipped about immigration at the planet.
Ed @Snowden, If you visit Mars, I'd bet any life forms there will greet you with a sip of that water -- and a tourist visa.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 29, 2015
.@neiltyson Surveillance never sleeps, and secret projects @FreedomofPress are keeping me busy, but I still find time for cat pictures.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
It's the kind of a smart small talk you would expect from Tyson and Snowden. Totally cool and super thrilling! Yes, I am having a fangirl moment here.
By the way, if you were thinking the account is fake even after reading these tweets, Twitter has verified his account. And more than that, the authenticity of the account has also been verified by The Intercept, an online newspaper run by Glenn Greewald who published documents in The Guardian sourced from Snowden.
Edward Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since June 2013 and is having some serious asylum issues. The US government has charged him with espionage and theft of government property for which he could be imprisoned for 30 years. While the government portrays him a traitor, many US citizens and global Internet users consider him a savior who brought forward the darkest secrets of intelligence agencies worldwide and revealed how those secrets involved mass surveillance, among other draconian snooping tactics.
No matter what side of the fence you belong to, it would be fun to follow Snowden's cheeky quips on Twitter and his awkward use of hashtags. Exciting times we live in, folks.
Oh, and this...
Meanwhile, a thousand people at Fort Meade just opened Twitter.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
