Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is joining the nonprofit co-founded by Daniel Ellsberg, the famous leaker of the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation announced Tuesday that Snowden, who it branded a “whistleblower” for leaking top secret documents about the NSA’s surveillance activity to the press, would join its board of directors. Founding board members include Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, journalists who worked closely with Snowden to publish the disclosures.
“Journalism isn’t possible unless reporters and their sources can safely communicate and where laws can’t protect that, technology can,” Snowden, who is currently residing in Russia under temporary asylum, said in the announcement. “This is a hard problem, but not an unsolvable one, and I look forward to using my experience to help find a solution.”
Ellsberg, who previously defended Snowden for fleeing the United States, called Snowden a “personal hero.”
“Leaks are the lifeblood of the republic and, for the first time, the American public has been given the chance to debate democratically the NSA’s mass surveillance programs,” he said in the announcement. “Accountability journalism can’t be done without the courageous acts exemplified by Snowden, and we need more like him.”
