The Snowden Case and Its Historical Background (2013)

The Snowden Case and Its Historical Background (2013)

The Snowden Affair of 2013 was a major event that shook the international order in the 21st century. Edward Snowden, a contract employee, revealed approximately 1.5 million classified NSA documents, making the world aware of the U.S. government's massive communications interception and surveillance system. In particular, the fact that PRISM and other surveillance programs were collecting personal search histories and communications through major IT companies such as Google and Microsoft, and that not only U.S. citizens but also foreign heads of state were being monitored, shocked the international community. When it was discovered that German Chancellor Merkel's cell phone had been tapped, relations between the U.S. and Germany cooled, and the issue became a diplomatic row.

In the background was the "War on Terror" following the terrorist attacks of 2001. The Patriot Act expanded the authority of the NSA, and in conjunction with the development of information technology, the surveillance network spread to every corner of daily life. However, in the early 2010s, the "Arab Spring" and the political upheaval caused by social networking services (SNS) exposed the U.S. as a huge surveillance state, while the Internet was regarded as a symbol of freedom. As a result, the balance between citizen privacy and national security was questioned in the U.S., and outside the U.S., "digital sovereignty" attracted attention and led to the strengthening of data protection regulations, particularly in the EU.

Furthermore, the incident undermined U.S. soft power, and China and Russia criticized U.S. hypocrisy and used it as justification for their own strict Internet regulations. The Snowden affair went beyond mere whistleblowing to become a turning point in the information order and international relations.