Republican presidential candidate and former New York Gov. George Pataki called for Twitter to shut down Edward Snowden’s account — hours after the former National Security Agency contractor posted his first tweet.
Snowden made his presence known Tuesday on the social media website:
Can you hear me now?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
Soon after, Pataki responded:
Some say you have courage, I saw real courage on #Sept11 You are just a traitor who put American lives at risk. https://t.co/RRWtmMzyxE
— George E. Pataki (@GovernorPataki) September 29, 2015
By the end of the day, Pataki called for Twitter to remove Snowden’s account all together:
.@Twitter is a great American company that should not give a platform to terrorists or traitors – @Jack shutdown @Snowden today.
— George E. Pataki (@GovernorPataki) September 29, 2015
Not a traitor who put Americans at risk, hides in Russia and belongs behind bars. https://t.co/LMXVLjta1B
— George E. Pataki (@GovernorPataki) September 29, 2015
But the co-founder and CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, had already welcomed Snowden to the social media site.
Yes! Welcome to Twitter. https://t.co/gUBQpET6Gg
— Jack (@jack) September 29, 2015
Glenn Greenwald, a reporter for The Intercept and formerly The Guardian, wrote about a global surveillance program that was uncovered by documents provided by Snowden.
Greenwald also weighed in on the situation Tuesday:
Hi, I’m running for President. My support in all polls is an asterisk. And I’m here to say who should & shouldn’t be allowed on Twitter.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 29, 2015
This post has been updated.
