The Laura Poitras film on Snowden shows that only government transparency will stop leaks

Edward Snowden. Photo: Guardian.


Edward Snowden. Photo: Guardian.

As we've mentioned, filmmaker Laura Poitras has an important new documentary out about Edward Snowden, and the impact of his leaks on NSA surveillance.

In a review of the "Citizenfour" for The Guardian, Trevor Timm, Executive Director of Freedom of the Press Foundation (Laura Poitras is a board member, so am I) writes:

[W]hat the government has failed to grasp is that Chelsea Manning and Snowden's leaks are not isolated incidents – or, at least they won't be when we look back on this era 10 years from now. There are 5 million people with security clearances in this country, and many of them are part of a new generation that is far more critical of the blanket secrecy permeating government agencies than the old guard.

It's only now that we are finally starting to see the reverberations of Manning's and Snowden's whistleblowing. But one thing is for sure: there are many more potential whistleblowers out there, and if government officials do not move to make their actions more transparent of their own volition, then their employees may well do it for them.

Previously: "Laura Poitras's Citizenfour: the real story of Edward Snowden"