Edward Snowden speaks via videoconference during the 2014 SXSW Music, Film +
Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.
Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for SXSW
OAKLAND, Calif. — Technology may play a more crucial role in protecting people's rights than elections that come around every four years, Edward Snowden said.
Snowden, who has been living in exile in Russia since 2013, when he released a trove of documents revealing the U.S. National Security Agency's massive surveillance program, spoke to attendees here at the Real Future Fair via BeamPro, a telepresence robot that wheeled around the stage.
"Elections matter, votes matter, but they're never enough," Snowden said. "We shouldn't be thrust into a position where every four years we're forced to hope for a Barack Obama or fear a Donald Trump." [Nasty Elections: 5 Times Presidential Candidates Went Low] https://www.livescience.com/56884-edward-snowden-new-tech-can-boost-democracy.html
