NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has joined Twitter, where he is forced to comply with the company’s unyielding terms of use and privacy policy. Snowden, considered by some a hero, is currently in exile from the US. He is wanted for major crimes after he exposed the NSA for tracking its own citizens’ metadata, a story told in the film Citizenfour.
With the film come and gone, Snowden needs a platform to continue his mission. His opening salvo using the Twitter platform is “Can you hear me now?” That seems to be a five-word promise that the Snowden revelations — or at the very least his public defense — may now continue 140 characters at a time. Interestingly, Snowden’s compliance with Twitter’s privacy policy allows Twitter to track a good portion of his “metadata” — the same sort of connective tissue that the NSA was exposed for tracking. Snowden no doubt opted out of many of the default tracking settings that Twitter affixes to unconcerned or oblivious users. So while Snowden won’t geo-tag his tweets (or maybe he will? for transparency?), he is still subject to Twitter’s constant probing. In 2014, for example, Twitter said it would snoop to see what apps users had on their phones. Snowden had to click the AGREE box on Twitter’s Terms of Use like everyone else. The Twitter Privacy Policy states clearly: “If you live in the United States, your information is controlled by Twitter, Inc.” The Twitter International Company in Ireland controls data of those outside the US, which Edward Snowden defiantly is. “Controlled” is not a word used accidentally.
Can you hear me now?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015