Within two hours of joining Twitter last month, Edward Snowden garnered nearly 300,000 followers. Two weeks later, 1.4 million people are tuning into his every tweet.
Thanks to his Twitter account, @Snowden now has a direct line to the entire world.
In case you missed the early action, here’s a recap of Ed Snowden’s most profound, powerful, and hilarious tweets so far.
Snowden Brings Da Lulz
The only Twitter account Snowden follows belongs to @NSAGov. Ha ha!
Meanwhile, a thousand people at Fort Meade just opened Twitter.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
Double win: The guy knows how to make fun of himself, AND he’s buds with Neil deGrasse Tyson.
.@neiltyson Thanks for the welcome. And now we’ve got water on Mars! Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend. — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
LOL. When Twitter user @BuzzFeedAndrew pointed out Snowden’s “suspicious” tweeting schedule…
Has anyone else noticed @Snowden goes on Tweetstorms at like 2,3am Moscow time?
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) October 13, 2015
… Snowden reacted quickly:
What if he has been in the US the whole time?! #conspiracy https://t.co/PrpybvHekA — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 13, 2015
Snowden Can Break Your Website
His tweets are so powerful they can BREAK YOUR WEBSITE.
@bartongellman Accidental DDoS.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 7, 2015
This Ed-Snowden-breaks-your-website phenomenon has given rise to the catchphrase: “You just got Snowden’d”.
@mathisschmieder @Snowden congrats! You just got Snowden’d… Snown’d? — johnw.exe (@dubsy54321) October 11, 2015
Snowden Has a Soft Spot for Librarians
A small library in Lebanon, New Hampshire, is now letting library patrons browse the Internet anonymously using Tor. Guess who hated this decision? The Department of Homeland Security. But the librarians fought back and privacy prevailed! Snowden heaped on the praise:
DHS fought to stop libraries from using privacy technology, but @LibraryFreedom beat them. Librarians are badass. https://t.co/5BzFywnJLn
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 11, 2015
Don’t mess with your local librarian!
Snowden Loves Cats
Two weeks in and Snowden’s tweeting like a pro. Because everyone knows cats = Internet gold. (Although we’d had him pegged as a dog person.)
Three cats and you’re a cat lady, right? But nobody ever called a guy a cat lord. #catlords — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 8, 2015
He wants to be a cat lord! See, guys, he’s just like us.
If you’re tired of cats pics, you’re out of luck. There’s no stopping him.
I was told to stop tweeting cat pictures. This is a protest. The cat pictures will continue until morale improves. https://t.co/Uo5Y2lcjr3
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 7, 2015
Snowden Turned Down a VIP Pass to a Tay Swift Concert
Snowden’s a little weary when it comes to invitations. You’d be too if you spent the last few years avoiding extradition. So when Twitter user SecuriTay (@SwiftOnSecurity) offered Snowden a VIP pass to a Taylor Swift concert, he was skeptical.
@snowden I’ll keep a pass waiting for you pic.twitter.com/BR5RKeW3De — SecuriTay (@SwiftOnSecurity) October 7, 2015
Nice try, @FBI. https://t.co/DsU7FblInP
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 8, 2015
LOL!
Snowden’s Still Standing Up for What’s Right
All jokes aside, Snowden is using his Twitter voice to do right in the world and shine a light on the things that really matter. Here are a few of the issues he’s tackling in his tweets:
The TPP
Snowden wants you to know that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a threat to public health around the world.
New chapter of secret #TPP deal, limiting access to medicine and IP, unveiled by @Wikileaks. https://t.co/C38E8HRBul pic.twitter.com/mhtbcesUEO — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 9, 2015
Civil Rights & Citizen Surveillance
When asked about #BlackLivesMatter, Snowden responded with a barrage of tweets exposing the ugly truth surrounding citizen surveillance.
Ask yourself: at every point in history, who suffers the most from unjustified surveillance? It is not the privileged, but the vulnerable.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 12, 2015
Snowden has a few words of wisdom for targets of government surveillance:
Organize. Compartmentalize to limit compromise. Encrypt everything, from calls to texts (use Signal as a first step) https://t.co/f28KscdfM7 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 13, 2015
Academic Freedom
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, came under fire for destroying copies of a video recording of Barton Gellman’s keynote presentation about the NSA and the importance of privacy. (Barton Gellman was one of the three journalists who worked with Snowden during the 2013 NSA leaks.)
Snowden’s tweet about the incident flooded Gellman’s website with so much traffic that it broke.
More on @LifeAtPurdue scandal by @BartonGellman. #AcademicFreedom or NatSec regs: which wins? https://t.co/2u9L9xvLfG pic.twitter.com/9sJr5RSjCO
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 9, 2015
Civilian Bombings
Since the US bombed the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Afghanistan, Snowden has been calling for a quick and thorough investigation.
Even if an enemy is attacking from inside a hospital, you may not bomb w/o warning patients. https://t.co/9atCdxPMXf pic.twitter.com/OSReTZGBIR — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 7, 2015
Citizen Spying
Snowden wants the world to know that U.S. military tech once used against Al Qaeda is now being used to track American citizens to spot crimes “as they happen.”
Tech designed to fight Al Qaeda gets used to track #BlackLivesMatter. War front to home front.https://t.co/x913OnhZfQ pic.twitter.com/1blAGu8Dwr
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 11, 2015
You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Privacy!
Snowden’s message is clear. You gotta stand up for your own civil liberties.
Surveillance is not about safety, it’s about power. It’s about control. https://t.co/xKds51UmSX pic.twitter.com/f7wD0YHmTQ — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 12, 2015
He also wants you to know that the NSA’s claim that mass surveillance keeps citizens safe is a pile of BS.
Claim: NSA mass surveillance keeps us safe. Fact: In over 10 years, not 1 life saved in US. https://t.co/vzJmBec2Yq pic.twitter.com/ad0MTvuZr7 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 11, 2015
Still a Cool Guy
Despite all his Twitter clout, Snowden is still urging people to read up, get informed, and draw their own conclusions.
It’s not about me. It’s about whether you’d rather know the truth. https://t.co/T1X5ddHlWM pic.twitter.com/UQx6BahSoH — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 5, 2015
In just a short time, Snowden’s quickly become one of the strongest voices of reason on Twitter. Follow @Snowden to stay current on all things surveillance… and for the cat pics!
We can’t wait to see what Snowden tweets about next!