World Wide Web founder backs Snowden, saying the world needs whistleblowers and that they should

be protected
Sir Tim Berners-Lee said that whistleblowers are essential for society He claimed that checks and balances around the world had failed Snowden became a wanted man seven months ago for leaking secrets
By Hayley O'keeffe PUBLISHED: 10:09, 26 December 2013 | UPDATED: 18:10, 26 December 2013

The inventor of the World Wide Web has spoken in support of whistleblower Edward Snowden and said he should be protected. Sir Tim Berners-Lee said that the former US intelligence contractor and others like him play an essential role in exposing abuses of power, and should not be punished. The computer scientist also claimed that checks and balances in the US and around the world had failed, and that even with reforms, the system was unlikely to get better. Scroll down for video

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has spoken in support of w histleblow er Edw ard Snow den

Sir Tim made his comments to the BBC after Channel Four broadcast Mr Snowden's alternative Christmas message yesterday. The internet founder said: 'When checks and balances break down, all society can rely on are the whistleblowers.' He added: 'And because they have been performing this important function of saving society when it is in its most desperate state, therefore we need, I think, to have a form of international recognition for whistleblowers.'

Recorded in Russia, Edw ard Snow den delivered Channel 4's 'Alternative Christm as Message' this Christm as

And Sir Tim added that whistleblowers would be particularly important in the future saying that some leaks 'really help and not hurt humanity.' He said: 'I don't think an automatic Nobel prize is necessarily part of that, but some way of generating an amnesty.' He added: 'We must assume that those systems in the future will break down too.' In his Christmas message Mr Snowden, who revealed details of electronic surveillance by American and British spy services, warned of the dangers posed by a loss of privacy.
Snowden warns of the dangers posed by loss of privacy

Video Source Channel 4

Christm as m essage: Edw ard Snow den speaks during an interview in Hong Kong

In a two-minute video recorded in Moscow, where Snowden has been granted temporary asylum, he spoke of concerns over surveillance in an age of huge technological advancement. 'We have sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go. Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person,' he said. 'A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all,' said Snowden. 'They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem because privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be.'

The 'Alternative Christmas Message', broadcast annually on Channel 4 television since 1993, mimics the format of the yearly address to the nation by Queen Elizabeth. Previous participants have included then President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2008 and popular cartoon characters Marge and Lisa Simpson in 2004.

Snow den w arned of dangers to dem ocracy in the first video released of the fugitive since arriving in Russia

On Tuesday, Snowden - who disclosed thousands of confidential documents - said in an interview published in the Washington Post that he had achieved what he set out to do. 'For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished,' he said. Snowden left his NSA post in Hawaii in May and went public with his first revelations from Hong Kong a few weeks later. In June, he left for Russia and stayed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport for nearly six weeks until the Kremlin granted him temporary one-year asylum. The United States has revoked his passport and demanded he be sent home to face charges for stealing secrets.

President Barak Obam a: Last w eek a White House-appointed panel proposed curbs on NSA surveillance

Earlier this month there were signs of thawing attitudes when Richard Ledgett - a top NSA official who leads a taskforce at the agency responding to the leaks - left open the option for Snowden to return to the United States in an amnesty. 'It's worth having a conversation about,' he told CBS. 'I would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured and my bar for those assurances would be very high,' Ledgett said. Senior officials in the Obama administration remain opposed to such a move. Last week a White House-appointed panel proposed curbs on some key NSA surveillance operations, recommending limits on a programme to collect records of billions of telephone calls, and new tests before Washington spies on foreign leaders. 'The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it,' Snowden said in the Christmas address. 'Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying.'

'HE SHOULD BE HANGED BY THE NECK UNTIL DEAD' CLAIMS EX CIA BOSS
The former director of the CIA has spoken out over calls to grant clemency to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Robert James Woolsey weighed into the argument saying that the former contractor, who is currently hiding in Moscow, should be 'hanged by the neck until dead.'

Form er CIA director Robert Jam es Woolsey has said that Edw ard Snow den should be 'hanged by the neck until dead'

It is thought that Mr Woolsey's comments reflect the current thinking in Washington. However, last week a White House-appointed committee recommended key reforms which would curb NSA surveillance operations. But disclosing the classified information, Mr Snowden committed crimes, but many feel that he should be allowed to return to the US.

Comments (101)
Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated Loading... where-is-the-truth, Not-found, 9 hours ago Tim Berners-Lee is widely known as a man of integrity as well as obviously having in depth knowledge of Information Technology. He should be carefully listened to when he speaks.

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Nurse I think my, Head Hurts, United Kingdom, 9 hours ago Yes? Well, when we have a Russian 'Snowden', a Chinese 'Snowden' a North Korean 'Snowden', an Iranian 'Snowden' and one each from Germany, France, Japan and India then - and only then - should we start talking about how beneficial their revelations have been! To concentrate simply on the USA as if they are the ONLY State spying on us is not only naive - but dangerous !

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Click to rate webby1, London, 9 hours ago Our intelligence services in the UK and US are just tools of giant corporations and banking insitutions they are used to keep the powerful in power.

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Click to rate webby1, London, 9 hours ago I'm reading all the comments hoping to see some Americans tell us about how Al Gore invented the world wibe web that tickled me did that one lol.

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Click to rate Matt, Here and there., Germany, 9 hours ago What surprises me more than anything from the replies here is not the reaction to what Sir Tim has said, but that there are no Americans trying to convince us they invented the Internet.....................lol

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Click to rate fishbait, Inland NW, 9 hours ago Well Mr. Berners-Lee, go to Russian and bring Snowden back to the US to face prosecution for his crimes and all will be well with the world.

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Nick, UK, United Kingdom, 9 hours ago This is a difficult question; 1) Some people called 'Whistle Blowers' are telling unpleasant truthful things to me which others are trying to keep me from knowing. 2) Governments tell me the Whistle Blowers are naughty people who should not tell me the truthful things because I would be happier if I did not know about them. Dear o' dear which would I prefer to hear, the truth or the lies?

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Click to rate ken mist, paris, 9 hours ago When governments become renegade and their activitieq devoid of principles and morals we need whistle blowers. They say to US if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. The same goes for governments but they conveniently ignore it. To let it continue will see our rights eroded away before we realise it.

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Nabokov, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 9 hours ago If you give a government some new form of power, it's very naive to believe that they won't use it. Governments (and their subordinate agencies) crave power and when they get some new tool of power, they'll always exploit it. Always have. Always will. Yet still the "Snowden-Is-A-Traitor" rentamob just can't see the big picture. They can't grasp the fact that if the inventor of the World-Wide-Web (which they are using to read these comments!) states that Snowden's actions are justified, then just maybe it's true! I firmly believe that history will vindicate Snowden's actions. Fifty years from now people as yet unborn will view him as a hero.

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Click to rate Jesuis, Reading, 9 hours ago Tony blair and George Bush has a lot to hide from its people. They and their decendants will suffer for this inhumanity they have placed on mankind. All liars must be removed from positions of power.

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