2013年6月5日,英国《卫报》率先通过美国前防务承包商雇员爱德华·斯诺登的爆料,披露了美国国家安全局在全球范围内实施监听的“棱镜计划”。其监听对象不仅包括美国民众,也包括法国、德国等欧洲国家的政要和百姓。坐实了美国在其境内外窃取人们的在线通信、互联网活动和电话记录的关键事实。

十年过去了,尽管“棱镜门”事件引发全球对美国大规模监听活动的强烈谴责,但美国并未悔改,十年来仍不断曝出各种监听他国的丑闻,其中不少受害国家还是美国的盟友。在海外问答网站Quora上,美国网友问:斯诺登是美国的英雄还是叛徒?我们看看各国网友的观点。



问题:对美国人来说,斯诺登是个叛徒还是英雄?



美国网友穆罕默德•安纳斯的回答


Snowden is an absolute hero.

斯诺登绝对是个英雄。

Many will say that Edward Snowden is a traitor and that his leaks endanger our national security.He violated his oath to the government to protect classified information, and he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. They will say that our elected leaders should be making national security decisions, not a 29-year-old acting on his own authority.

许多人会说,爱德华·斯诺登(Edward Snowden)是叛徒,他的泄密危及了我们的国家安全。他违反了向政府许下的保护机密信息的誓言,他应该受到法律最大限度的惩罚。他们会说,我们选出的领导人有权力做出事关国家安全的决定,而不是任凭一个29岁的人凭自己的权力行事。

The truth is that Edward Snowden's leaks have made our country safer. Our leaders were elected on a promise of transparency, and they swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. The shame lies only with our elected representatives, not with the individuals who stand up to fulfill the oaths and promises they have broken.

事实是,爱德华·斯诺登(Edward Snowden)的泄密让我们的国家变得更加安全。我们的领导人是在承诺透明度的基础上当选的,他们宣誓要维护宪法。这种耻辱只存在于我们选举的代表身上,而不存在于那些站出来履行他们所违背的誓言和承诺的个人身上。



Edward Snowden, at great risk to his personal safety, revealed that our government is secretly spying on all of its own citizens. He gave us a chance to debate the issue openly. He realized that it was absolutely amazing how easily the program could be abused. The government has the right to track the details of every citizen's private emails, letters, and phone calls.Now, as a nation, we can finally ask ourselves:

爱德华·斯诺登(Edward Snowden)他冒着极大的人身安全风险,揭露了我们的政府正在秘密监视所有自己的公民。他给了我们一个公开辩论这个问题的机会。他认识到,这个项目被滥用的容易程度绝对令人吃惊。政府有权追踪每个公民的私人电子邮件、信件和电话的细节。现在,作为一个国家,我们终于可以问自己:

• Are we willing to hand over this incredible power to the government?

•我们是否愿意把这种不可思议的权力交给政府?

• If a self-interested leader comes to power, will Prism lay the groundwork for abuse of power and totalitarianism?

•如果一个自私自利的领导人上台,棱镜计划是否会为滥用权力和极权主义奠定基础?

The elected representatives who lie to us and promise transparency are the same leaders who are calling for this young man to be put behind bars. They are cornered and must defend this shortsighted and despicable project and denounce his exposure. Don't fall for it. Edward Snowden is a hero.

那些对我们撒谎,承诺透明化的民选代表,正是那些要求把这个年轻人关进监狱的领导人。他们被逼得走投无路,必须为这个目光短浅、卑鄙的项目辩护,谴责他的曝光。不要上当。爱德华·斯诺登是个英雄。



美国网友安德鲁•莱宁汉的回答


It depends on who you ask.

这取决于你问谁。

• The U.S. government won't hesitate to tell you he's a criminal. Government officials believe that their private information was leaked by Snowden, whom they consider a traitor who betrayed his country. In this case, they see him as the villain, and it's easy to see why. He broke the laws of the United States, plain and simple, and they believe that the United States government is built and operated on a perfectly legal basis. They spy not only on the American public but also on the public of a number of other countries without breaking any strict laws.

•美国政府不会毫不犹豫地告诉你他是罪犯。政府官方认为:他们的私人信息被斯诺登泄露了,他们认为他是叛徒,背叛了自己的国家。在这个问题中,他们把他视为恶棍,原因很容易理解。他违反了美国法律,就这么简单,他们认为美国政府是在完全合法的基础上建立和运作的。他们不仅监视美国公众,而且监视其他一些国家的公众,并没有违反任何严格的法律。



By spying on the public, they protect the United States from possible attacks, and Snowden comes along and betrays their trust, revealing information that for some reason should be kept secret. When everyone knows the government is spying, people find ways to avoid it, as Snowden did. This will make it more difficult to manage security in the United States. If the people revolt and abolish the system, the US will become a sitting target.

通过监视公众,他们保护美国免受可能的攻击,而斯诺登出现了,背叛了他们的信任,泄露了出于某种原因应该保密的信息。当所有人都知道政府在监视时,人们就会想办法避开监视,就像斯诺登那样。这将使美国的安全管理变得更加困难。如果人民反抗并废除了这一制度,美国将成为一只活靶子。

• The public will call him a hero, one of the few who stood up to the US government and exposed its unethical surveillance methods. They see him as a hero for one simple reason. He informed the public that the U.S. government was spying on them without their permission. They broke their vows of privacy and threatened employees not to whistleblower, but Snowden risked everything to make the information public and to make the public really think about whether they wanted to be watched all the time.

•公众将称他为英雄,他是少数几个敢于对抗美国政府并揭露其不道德监视手段的人之一。他们视他为英雄,原因很简单。他通知公众,美国政府在未经允许的情况下监视他们。他们违背了保证隐私的誓言,还威胁员工不要告密,但斯诺登冒着一切风险将信息公之于众,并引发公众真正思考,他们是否想要时刻被监视。



The public finally has a say in their privacy. Not to mention Snowden has exposed how easily the system can spin out of control under a selfish leader. The democratic United States could turn into an autocracy, where the public unwittingly gives the U.S. government enormous power and a good orator with bad intentions can have an impact. The public voice would no longer matter, and that would be completely contrary to the values on which America was founded.

公众终于对自己的隐私有了发言权。更不用说斯诺登还暴露了这个系统在一个自私的领导人的领导下是如何容易失控的。民主的美国可能会变成一个专制国家,公众在不知不觉中赋予了美国政府巨大的权力,一个用心不良的好演说家也会产生影响。公众的声音将不再重要,这将完全违背美国的建国价值观。

• Others don't see him that way either. He broke official laws and engaged in espionage, but he also took information to an unsuspecting public despite intense government harassment. They saw him as a halfway point between hero and villain - a vigilante. Sure, it's good that he's putting information out there, but he's also putting the U.S. government in crisis and making them vulnerable to attack. He reminded the public that the government is spying on them, but they are doing so for good reason to prevent future disasters. He told everyone that the government had broken its oath, but their actions were still perfectly legal, while Snowden's actions were espionage, perhaps with good reason, but espionage nonetheless.

•其他人也不会这么看他。他违反了官方法律,从事了间谍活动,但他也不顾政府的强烈骚扰,将信息带给了不知情的公众。他们把他看作是英雄和恶棍之间的中间点——一个治安维持者。当然,他把信息公开是件好事,但他也把美国政府置于危机之中,使他们容易受到攻击。他提醒公众,政府正在监视他们,但他们这样做是有充分理由的,以防止未来的灾难。他告诉所有人,政府违背了誓言,但他们的行为仍然完全合法,而斯诺登的行为是间谍行为,也许有充分的理由,但仍然是间谍行为。



Is Edward Snowden a hero or a villain? It depends on who you ask.

爱德华·斯诺登是英雄还是恶棍?这取决于你问谁。

海外网友迈克尔•马赫雷斯的回答

Edward Snowden is a true hero. Sadly, those who reveal the truth have to hide to protect themselves.

爱德华·斯诺登是一个真正的英雄。可悲的是,揭露真相的人不得不隐藏起来保护自己。

Edward Snowden is a whistleblower, a former US intelligence agent who leaked thousands of classified government documents to journalists in a Hong Kong hotel room in June 2013.

爱德华·斯诺登(Edward Snowden)是告密者,他是一名前美国情报员,于2013年6月在香港一家酒店的房间里向记者泄露了数千份政府机密文件。

What if I told you that everything on your phone, every person on your contact list, every text you write, every email you send, every place you go, basically everything about your private life is recorded and stored in a database somewhere? What if I told you that someone could turn on your phone's camera or microphone at any time to spy on you? You're not gonna like it, are you? Your life is just metadata for others to study.

如果我告诉你,你手机上的一切,你联系人名单上的每一个人,你写的每一条短信,你发的每一封电子邮件,你去过的每一个地方,基本上你的私人生活的一切都被记录下来并存储在数据库的某个地方,你会怎么样?如果我告诉你,有人可以在任何时候打开你手机的摄像头或麦克风来监视你呢?你不会喜欢的,对吧?你的生活只是供别人研究的元数据。

This is exactly what the US National Security Agency (NSA) has done with their mass surveillance of all US citizens, as well as the people of other countries, and Snowden is responsible for bringing this to public attention. They're probably watching me write this answer.

这正是美国国家安全局(NSA)所做的,他们对所有美国公民以及其他国家的人民进行了大规模监控,而斯诺登要为让公众注意到这一点负责。他们可能正在监视我写这个答案。

Since Snowden is currently in exile and unable to move freely, he gave a TED talk via a telepresence robot.Someone asked: In the past few months, people have called you a lot of nicknames. You've been called a traitor, a snitch, a hero. What word would you use to describe yourself?

由于斯诺登目前处于流亡状态,无法自由活动,他通过远程呈现机器人进行了TED演讲。有人问:在过去的几个月里,人们给你起了很多绰号。你被称为叛徒,告密者,英雄。你会用什么词来形容你自己?

Snowden replied: "Everyone involved in this debate is struggling with me and my personality and how to describe me. It's not a question we should dwell on. It doesn't matter who I am. If I'm the worst person in the world, you can hate me and move on. What really matters here are the questions. What kind of government do we want, what kind of Internet do we want, the relationship between people and society. If I had to describe myself, I wouldn't use words like "hero," I wouldn't use "patriot," I wouldn't use "traitor." I would say I am an American, a citizen like anyone else.

斯诺登回答说:参与这场辩论的每个人都在为我、我的个性以及如何描述我而挣扎。这不是我们应该纠结的问题。我是谁根本不重要。如果我是世界上最坏的人,你可以恨我,然后继续生活。这里真正重要的是问题。我们想要什么样的政府,我们想要什么样的互联网,人与社会之间的关系。如果我必须描述自己,我不会用“英雄”这样的词,我不会用“爱国者”,我不会用“叛徒”。我会说我是一个美国人,一个和其他人一样的公民。

To me, everything this guy has done proves that he is a true hero. He will do more good than harm to the American people. However, there are many who say, "If you have nothing to hide, why fear others knowing?" I would say to them, "If you let spies watch you, they can decide whether you are right or wrong, and they can bring you to trial at any time."

对我来说,这家伙所做的一切都证明他是一个真正的英雄。他对美国人民利大于弊。然而,也有许多人说:“如果你没有什么可隐瞒的,那又何必害怕别人知道呢?”我会对他们说:“如果你让间谍监视你,他们可以决定你的是非对错,并随时可以对你发起审判。”

I suggest you watch the movie Snowden first and then the Oscar-winning documentary Citizen Four, which will definitely give you the chills.

我建议大家先看电影《斯诺登》,然后再看奥斯卡获奖纪录片《第四公民》,它一定会让你不寒而栗。

Here are the scope and details of Snowden's disclosures:

下面是斯诺登披露信息的范围和细节:

• First and foremost, a secret court order in the United States allows the National Security Agency to go through Americans' phone records!

•首先,也是最重要的,美国的秘密法庭命令允许国家安全局审理美国人的电话记录!

Verizon has been providing the NSA with the phone records of almost all its customers, and not just Verizon, but almost every other phone company in the United States has also aided the NSA in this case. (Verizon is the largest provider of cable and voice communications in the United States.)

斯诺登的第一颗氢弹是“威瑞森”一直在向国家安全局提供几乎所有客户的电话记录,不仅是“威瑞森”,美国几乎所有其他电话公司也在这个案件中襄助了国家安全局。(威瑞森通信公司(Verizon)是美国最大的有线通信和话音通信提供商)



• The existence of Prism was a second bombshell for the NSA (US National Security Agency). There are reports that the Prism program allows the NSA direct access to the servers of US tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple.

•棱镜计划的存在是NSA(美国国家安全局)的第二枚重磅炸弹。有报道称,“棱镜”计划允许NSA直接访问谷歌、脸书、微软和苹果等美国科技巨头的服务器。

Prism is not as evil as most Americans initially thought. In fact, the NSA does not have direct access to servers, but can request user data from these companies.

棱镜计划并没有大多数美国人最初想象的那么邪恶。实际上,美国国家安全局没有直接访问服务器的权限,但可以要求这些公司提供用户数据。

Prism prompted tech companies to first deny knowledge of it and then push for the right to be more transparent about government data requests. The companies eventually won the battle to some extent, prompting the government to ease some restrictions and allow for greater transparency.

“棱镜门”促使科技公司首先否认对此知情,然后又争取在政府数据请求方面更加透明的权利。这些公司最终在一定程度上赢得了这场斗争,促使政府放松了一些限制,并允许提高透明度。

• Snowden revealed that the NSA spent most of its surveillance time hacking into the backends of Google and Facebook, but forgot to examine these vulnerable threats to people and society, leaving the NSA with nothing!

• 斯诺登透露,美国国家安全局的大部分监控时间都花在了入侵谷歌和Facebook的后端,但却忘记了检查这些对人类和社会的脆弱威胁,这让美国国家安全局一无所获!

• Snowden also revealed his close alliance with GCHQ and the NSA. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British intelligence agency, is said to be eavesdropping on fiber-optic cables around the world in order to intercept data being transmitted over the global Internet. GCHQ works closely with the National Security Agency to share data and intelligence under a program code-named Tempora.

•斯诺登还透露了他与GCHQ和NSA的密切联系。据悉,英国情报机构政府通信总部(GCHQ)窃听世界各地的光纤电缆,以拦截通过全球互联网传输的数据。GCHQ与国家安全局密切合作,在代号为Tempora的项目中共享数据和情报。

Tempora is one of the key (NSA+GCHQ) programs that allows spy agencies to collect vast amounts of data, but for some reason it is sometimes overlooked. Within months of the Tempora Revelations, it emerged that a number of companies were working with GCHQ on the Tempora programme: Verizon Commercial, BT, Vodafone Cable, Global Cross, Level 3, Viatel and Interoute - all thanks to Snowden.

Tempora是关键(NSA+GCHQ)项目之一,允许间谍机构收集大量数据,但出于某种原因,它有时被忽视。在“Tempora”事件曝光几个月后,又有消息称,有许多公司与GCHQ在“Tempora”项目中合作:威瑞森商业、英国电信、沃达丰有线、环球电讯、Level 3、Viatel和Interoute——所有这些都要感谢斯诺登。



• Another shocking fact is that the NSA even spies on (and perhaps is spying on) the government work of most countries and most world leaders. According to a German journalist who claims to have learned from secret documents in Snowden's possession, the NSA is spying on at least 122 world leaders. These include the German chancellor, the president of Brazil, the president of Mexico, the French foreign Ministry, and all G8 and G20 leaders.

•另一个令人震惊的事实是,美国国家安全局甚至监视(也许正在监视)大多数国家的政府工作人员和大多数世界领导人。根据一名德国记者(他声称从斯诺登拥有的秘密文件中得知)的说法:美国国家安全局正在监视至少122位世界领导人。这些领导人包括德国总理、巴西总统、墨西哥总统、法国外交部,以及G8和G20峰会领导人。

• Snowden highlighted a key tool used by the NSA - XKeyscore - which tracks anything users around the world do on the Internet.

•斯诺登强调了美国国家安全局使用的一个关键工具——XKeyscore——它可以跟踪世界各地用户在互联网上的任何行为。

In a leaked document, the NSA described it as the "most extensive system" that can be searched across the entire Internet.

在一份泄露的文件中,美国国家安全局将其描述为“最广泛的系统”,可以在整个互联网上进行搜索。

• Because the NSA kept a close eye on every suspicious archive, Snowden influenced how everyone could prevent their communications from being collected in bulk, including full disk encryption and even TOR.

•由于美国国家安全局密切关注着每一个可疑的档案,斯诺登影响了每个人如何防止自己的通信被大规模收集,包括全磁盘加密,甚至TOR。

• Mr. Snowden exposed the top echelons of the campaign. Snowden alleges that two officials compromised his security more than others: Michael Hayden and Keith Alexander. General Keith Alexander was director of the National Security Agency and Michael Hayden was his predecessor.

•斯诺登揭露了这项活动的高层。斯诺登声称,有两名官员比其他人更严重地损害了自己的安全:迈克尔·海登(Michael Hayden)和基思·亚历山大(Keith Alexander)。基思·亚历山大将军曾担任美国国家安全局局长,迈克尔·海登是他的前任。

Snowden claims that these people somehow changed the NSA's mission and ultimately weakened the security of the entire telecommunications system.

斯诺登声称,这些人以某种方式改变了国家安全局的任务,最终削弱了整个电信系统的安全性。

"By undermining cybersecurity, the NSA puts American business, privacy, and even security interests at risk because our nation relies so heavily on cyber technology." And that's a problem because the United States has more to lose than anybody else."

“通过破坏网络安全,国家安全局将美国的商业、隐私甚至安全利益置于危险之中,因为我们的国家如此依赖网络技术。这是一个问题,因为美国比其他任何人都有更多的损失。”

• Snowden also stressed that the tech industry is too casual about security. Yahoo, for example, unknowingly exposed more than 100,000 user accounts every day because it did not use SSL encryption.

•斯诺登还强调,科技行业在安全问题上过于随意。例如,雅虎每天在不知情的情况下暴露了超过10万用户的账户,因为它没有使用SSL加密。

However, despite the outrage among tech giants, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo rushed to encrypt all their communications after Snowden revealed the documentary news.

然而,尽管科技巨头们被激怒了,在斯诺登披露了这则纪录片新闻后,谷歌、Facebook、微软和雅虎都匆忙对他们的所有通信进行了加密。

So far, however, the U.S. government does not know exactly how many documents Snowden took and how many were provided to journalists.

然而,到目前为止,美国政府还不知道斯诺登究竟拿走了多少文件,又有多少提供给了记者。