by AJT Santos
Internet freedom fighter and privacy activist Edward Snowden is (publicly) back online, sending his first tweet yesterday from his @Snowden account with the question, “Can you hear me now?”
His profile states, “I used to work for the government. Now I work for the public. Director at @FreedomOfPress.”
Interestingly enough, this comes shortly after Snowden’s recent interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson where the astrophysicist suggested, “You kind of need a Twitter handle. So like @Snowden, maybe? Is this something you might do?”
Having been granted asylum by Russia in 2013 after being charged by U.S. authorities for three felony charges, two of which fall under the Espionage Act, Snowden’s Twitter account is set to further cement his status as a major figure in surveillance and privacy activism.
https://twitter.com/twitter/status/648938950812274688
While Edward Snowden has already gained 1.14 million followers within a day of creating his Twitter profile, the former NSA contractor is following only one account: @NSAGov.
The NSA, though, doesn’t seem to be following him back. Well not on Twitter, anyway.