Edward Snowden: Sen Rand Paul's 'Filibuster' Is a 'Sea Change'

With a little help from his friends at the American Civil Liberties Union, Edward Snowden conducted a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session on May 22. The ex-spy spoke about reforms to the National Security Agency and the Patriot Act. Section 215 of the act, which the NSA uses as the legal justification for the data collection program that Snowden revealed two years ago, is set to expire June 1 unless Congress extends it. In his answers, he expressed significant skepticism that the US government will stop spying on its citizens altogether, but still encouraged users to call their member of Congress and urge them to vote against the Patriot Act extension. He also answered questions ranging from his take on Sen Rand Paul's (R-KY) recent self-described filibuster, to the state of Russian cuisine, to his favorite book. Asked about his thoughts on Sen Paul's filibuster, Snowden wrote, "It represents a sea change from a few years ago, when intrusive new surveillance laws were passed without any kind of meaningful opposition or debate."