In 2013, former government contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA. Americans learned their desktops, laptops, smartphones, and social media pages were being spied on by this government entity without their approval or knowledge.
Now, that story is all but completely forgotten about. Many Americans seem to forget who Snowden is. But late night talk show host and comedian John Oliver hasn’t forgotten, and he’s determined not to let us forget. It bothered Oliver that nearly half of Americans don’t seemed that concerned about government surveillance. ?Do you know what happens June 1? John Oliver reminds us that’s the expiration date of certain parts of the controversial Patriot Act. By that day, government officials will either renew or kill those certain parts. One of those provisions is Section 215. It’s common name is the Library Records Provision. Don’t let that name fool you. Section 215/Library Records Provision requires employers to hand over any ‘tangible things’, including books, hard drives, records, even social media pages and music on your iPod. According to this provision, this would only be used investigate terrorist activities. That’s not all. John Oliver went to Russia and interviewed Edward Snowden. Part of his interview aired on Oliver’s HBO program called Last Week Tonight.
I’d like to thank John Oliver for re-starting the conversation. I’m thankful he educated us about the June 1 deadline, Section 215, and what’s really on the line. And he interviewed Snowden himself. Some may say Oliver is doing this for ratings. If that’s the case, then why aren’t there more host speaking out against this? I think the closer we get to June 1, the more Section 215 is going to be debated. At least that’s my hope. I live in a ?politically charged and progressive city. So when the government surveillance story broke, there were protest and rallies everywhere to stop government surveillance. A few months later, they stopped. I don’t trust Section 215. They say it’s only to investigate potential terrorism. But the cynic in me says it will be used and abused for more sinister reasons. Is John Oliver the man we need to re-start the call against government surveillance?