EDITORIAL: Young, voting-age Americans give the NSA the thumbs-up

EDITORIAL: Young, voting-age Americans give the NSA the thumbs-up

A June 9, 2013 photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden in Hong Kong.

GLENN GREENWALD AND LAURA POITRAS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Say what you will about Edward Snowden, the computer specialist who leaked informaton from the National Security Agency.

He played a big game. No, not a game to take down the U.S. government or even to take down the surveillance-industrial complex.

Mr. Snowdens true gambit was to dramatically change public opinion about how the Internet should be governed. Even if you didnt hold as critical views of our foreign policy as Edward Snowden, you might very well have been shocked by his disclosures and concerned that, without some better legislation, too many of our taken-for-granted freedoms would disappear online.

But in order for public opinion to shift as swiftly and decisively as that kind of change required, Mr. Snowden had to do more than change the minds of elites. He had to create a groundswell among the Americans who spent the most time immersed in online technology. He had to hit a home run with millennials.

Well, the data is in, and guess what? He struck out.

The latest polling from Pew paints a stark picture: Young people are more likely than older Americans to view the intelligence agency positively, the organization reports. About six-in-10 (61 percent) of those under 30 view the NSA favorably, compared with 40 percent of those 65 and older.

Thats a remarkable set of figures. Not only do the youngest of voting-age Americans give the NSA the thumbs-up possibly excusable given the level of news ignorance prevalent among teenagers but even those well into their twenties support the NSA in a landslide.

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EDITORIAL: Young, voting-age Americans give the NSA the thumbs-up