Snowden Calls Into Putin Telethon To Discuss Legality Of Mass Surveillance

While the western media paints Vladmir Putin as some cross between Napoleon and Hitler marauding across Europe breaking international laws willy-nilly, there is one red line he is apparently unwilling to cross. In a somewhat surprising turn of events, none other than Edward Snowden called in to a Putin live telethon and asked the Russian President: "Does Russia intercept millions of citizens’ data?" Putin's response (whether true or not) is worth paying attention to by his opponent on the world stage: "Russia uses surveillance techniques for spying on individuals only with the sanction of a court order. This is our law, and therefore there is no mass surveillance in our country."

Via RT,

Russian intelligence agencies use special media to tap and spy only after a court decision, says Vladimir Putin, answering the question by former NSA agent Edward Snowden on whether the Russian government spies online.

The Russian president said that he like Snowden used to work as a former intelligence officer and said that there is no mass scale or uncontrollable surveillance in Russia as there is in America.

“Russia uses surveillance techniques for spying on individuals only with the sanction of a court order. This is our law, and therefore there is no mass surveillance in our country”, Putin said.

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked detailed National Security Agency documents on how information is stockpiled on millions of Americans as well as world leaders, appeared via a video link from an undisclosed location to ask Vladimir Putin his question.

It seems even Putin won't publicly cross that red line...

Comments

[Pseudonymous]

Of course there was nothing said about how the Russian "courts" compare to even FISA "courts"...

[Tulpa]

If that was really him, Snowden can go boff himself.  Whatever one thinks of the NSA issues there is no comparison between Russia's numerous crimes against human rights and the relatively minor stuff the US does.  Anybody who still considers him a "Patriotic American" needs to reconsider that evaluation.

[escapeefromOZ]

"Relatively minor stuff the US does " ?   Yes  , Guantanamo Bay , Abu Ghraib , Iraq , Afghanistan , Libya , Siria , Vienam , and many other wars ........ Is this Minor ?   What about listening indiscriminatley to the USA citizens and abolishing the constitution of the USA , Is that MINOR ? Think again the meaning of your words ......

[MeelionDollerBogus]

OK, compare the Georgia, Ossetia, Chechnya situations to Yemen, Pakistan & Afghanistan. Now add in ALL of South America, Iraq, Iran and let's not forget the depleted uranium shelling all across Bosnia to "save" it by condemning every generation to a combination of heavy metal (chemical) poisoning AND radiation poisoning of all the land and water.

You know what? Putin has a long way to go Russia has a long time to go, before they can even hope to be as evil as the USA. The USA has actually started to even make Hitler look like he didn't "do that much".

And Hitler didn't even have weaponized diseases. America does.

To be an American patriot in the year 2014 is to be the dumbest dumbfuck in the history of all history. America has become the world's #1 terrorist.

[fedupwhiteguy]

Happy 420 day, Bitchez!!