Edward Snowden will be speaking live via video streaming at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival on Monday, March 10, and the U.S. authorities cannot arrest him.
Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, made it to news headlines around the globe after he leaked classified agency documents to the media in June 2013. The leaked documents revealed NSA's mysterious and secretive operations regarding telephone calls tapping. The U.S. government is hunting down Snowden for leaking NSA's classified documents, but he is now living in Russia under temporary asylum from where he will do the video streaming.
"On Monday, March 10 at 11:00 am, join us for a conversation between Edward Snowden and Christopher Soghoian, the principal technologist of the American Civil Liberties Union," per SXSW. The conversation will be focused on the impact of the NSA's spying efforts on the technology community, and the ways in which technology can help to protect us from mass surveillance. Hear directly from Snowden about his beliefs on what the tech community can and must do to secure the private data of the billions of people who rely on the tools and services that we build."
The conversation is aimed to consider the impact of NSA's spying efforts on the technology community. The conversation will also consider the ways in which technology can help protect people from mass surveillance
The session will be moderated by Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Speech, Privacy & Technology Project and Edward Snowden's legal advisor. Audience members will also get the opportunity to ask Snowden questions.
"A Virtual Conversation with Edward Snowden" will take place in Exhibit Hall 5 on the first floor of the Austin Convention Center. People who cannot make it for the interactive conference can also watch a free livestream of the session courtesy of The Texas Tribune. Moreover, the recorded video streaming of the conference will also be available for free via the ACLU website.
Snowden is wanted in the U.S. on charges alleging him of leaking a large number of NSA's classified documents. Even though Snowden will not be physically present in the U.S. during the SXSW, his voice will be heard by millions of people in the country who are concerned about spying. However, the U.S. government has nothing that can stop him from putting his word across to the general public.
