Edward Snowden, the US whistleblower who revealed secret surveillance operations by the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, on Friday defended the right to 'freedom of expression' in response to a poll by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Musk suggested that those who replace the US flag with another flag should be sent to that country.
“Proposed law: if someone tears down the American flag and puts up another flag in its place, that person should get a free (but mandatory) one-way trip to that flag’s country,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday posted on X with options ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
Among many hits and replies to the post, one came in from Snowden. "First of all, Americans' freedom of expression, which includes all manner of flag-trampling and other unlikable acts, is constitutionally-protected for a very good reason. Secondly, what are you going to do when they tear it down and replace it with this?," he posted on X with a picture of fast food giant McDonald's in his reply.
Musk's poll appeared to refer to ongoing pro-Palestine protests at university campuses across the US, where some protesters have burned or replaced the American flag with the Palestinian flag.
Musk followed up his poll with a comment, saying "I'm not saying they can't come back, but they have to experience that country for some period of time before returning."
Meanwhile, Snowden seemed to be suggesting that those who exercise their right to free speech should be taken there to eat, rather than sent to another country.
Snowden said in another post, “Because no law—even one described, like the Constitution, as the ‘supreme law of the land’—possesses a force of its own; the ink cannot leap from the page to fight for your rights. A law can only defend the people when the people defend the law. Its power derives from our own.”
Edward Snowden had fled the US and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA, where he once worked.
