Chapter 3, Networked Communications, focuses mainly on some issues between individuals that arise when everyone is able to be contacted anonymously in an instant. Meanwhile, “Snowden” focuses on the government and how it relates to people’s public and private network usage. The two do overlap for a few sections, and “Snowden” gives us a lot to unpack there.
The subsection titled “Government Filtering and Surveillance of Internet Content,” focuses on China’s censorship of certain websites, but thanks to Edward Snowden, we know that the American government has done more than its fair share of surveillance. The first time we see the government’s surveillance in “Snowden” is in Switzerland. The NSA uses a program with Ed to gain access to everything posted on the Internet by an individual, whether they made it public or not. This is an important turning point for Snowden; it’s when he first realizes that the government is infringing on people’s rights to privacy. It is this scene that provides him with the motivation to continue moving up in the intelligence world and to expose the reveal the information that he found. We later learn in the film that the government can turn on webcams and microphones to record people.
It is the opinion of Edward Snowden (both in real life and the film) that this is unethical. A Kantian analysis of the situation finds the actions taken unethical because the government is using everyone as a means to an end. That end being more power and more control.
The subsection titled “Government Filtering and Surveillance of Internet Content,” focuses on China’s censorship of certain websites, but thanks to Edward Snowden, we know that the American government has done more than its fair share of surveillance. The first time we see the government’s surveillance in “Snowden” is in Switzerland. The NSA uses a program with Ed to gain access to everything posted on the Internet by an individual, whether they made it public or not. This is an important turning point for Snowden; it’s when he first realizes that the government is infringing on people’s rights to privacy. It is this scene that provides him with the motivation to continue moving up in the intelligence world and to expose the reveal the information that he found. We later learn in the film that the government can turn on webcams and microphones to record people.
It is the opinion of Edward Snowden (both in real life and the film) that this is unethical. A Kantian analysis of the situation finds the actions taken unethical because the government is using everyone as a means to an end. That end being more power and more control.