ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides some conceptual and normative clarity concerning the key normative issues surrounding the phenomenon of classified public whistleblowing. It discusses the most commonly proposed defense of whistleblowing, namely the defense based on the individual right to freedom of expression. The book argues that civil servants who are complicit in government wrongdoing incur a moral obligation to remedy the wrongdoing to which they have contributed by blowing the whistle on it. Edward Snowden’s disclosures regarding the National Security Agency’s (NSA) mass surveillance programs. Following Snowden’s revelations, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which introduced vital reforms to the NSA’s bulk data collection program. Some have pointed out that Snowden’s disclosures have hampered the functioning of certain NSA programs that have actually played a role in preventing terrorist attacks.