Edward Snowden Is Touring Australia In 2016, Sort Of

Former CIA employee Edward Snowden is bringing his story to Australia in a series of shows around the country this May.

In 2013 Snowden leaked classified information from the National Security Agencey (NSA) that he gained during his time as a high level cyber security specialist, regarding global surveillance programs run with the co-operation of telco companies and several European governments.

The leak lead to a national security scandal, and thereafter he was charged by the US Department of Justice for two counts of violating the US Espionage Act and for theft of government property, following which Snowden fled to Russia to seek political asylum, where he remains to this day.

Recently, Snowden addressed and criticised the Australian government’s own new security surveillance initiatives. “Just months ago, an aggressive new ‘bulk collection’ program came into effect in Australia, mandating the indiscriminate interception of private records without regard to an individual’s guilt or innocence,” he said. “This is the most classic form of mass surveillance, and it radically redefines the balance of power between citizen and state…a battle is beginning, and the internet and democracy hang in the balance.”

Now Snowden will appear via video link at several special events to reveal the how and why of what he did in 2013 in a series of evenings called An Evening with Edward Snowden.

See details below.