Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor of USA, knew the US Administration would undoubtedly seek to punish him if he revealed secret US documents before the world. Why did he do this despite his pre-cautious knowledge of possible consequences? He leaked secret US surveillance documents and fled. Why did he risk his life knowingly? Monetary benefits, definitely, cannot be the cause behind this leakage of US secrets because Snowden deliberately has showed his psychological preparedness to even desert his own country and face any forthcoming consequences afterward. Yet, why did he leak his own country’s secrets before the international community? This is the question the peoples of the world need to exercise over.
To productively address this question, the mass media throughout the world should disseminate information about the vitals contained in the leaked documents. The nature of the secret documents will determine the motive of Snowden in leaking them.
The non-coverage by the world’s mainstream mass media and the alternative media of any vital information contained in the leaked documents will further debilitate the spirit of press freedom currently criticized as ruling elites’ protective shield since press freedom is a noble principle that has the potential to combat military regimes under the disguise of democracy essential to curb the current tendency of using press freedom to make the whole world run after individuals, ignoring the gravest human rights violations, and globally operated civil war industries.
To really prove that press freedom is people’s freedom for the greatest public good, critical-analytical debates on the implications of the secret documents need to be unleashed.
The mass media of the world, detecting every step of Snowden, have completely ignored what specific contents he leaked, why he did so and how they affect the world.
Snowden had leaked US surveillance documents that indicated that the US Administration gathered boundless intelligence from Iran, Pakistan, Jordon, Egypt, India and many other countries in South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Moreover, the leaked documents show how Americans themselves are being watched 24 hours though they are innocent.