Edward Snowden: NSA setting fire to the internet

"The Constitution was violated on a massive scale": Edward Snowden. Photo: Getty Images

Edward Snowden has made a rare video appearance at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, condemning mass government surveillance and urging members of the tech-savvy audience to take action against it.

Speaking from Russia, where he was granted asylum, the former intelligence contractor said proposed reforms at the US National Security Agency (NSA) show he was vindicated in leaking classified material.

He said he had no regrets about leaking classified information. Asked ifhe would leak secret government information again, he replied: "absolutely, yes".

Internet firefighters

Snowden said the US government's mass surveillance failed to catch the Boston Marathon bombers and warned that governments have created an adversarial climate on the internet.

"They're setting fire to the global internet, and you guys in the room are the global firefighters," Snowden said.

He appeared against a backdrop of the US Constitution with "We the people" written in large letters. The video feed was broadcast on a large screen before several thousand credentialed festival attendees in two conference halls and streamed live online.

"I saw that the Constitution was violated on a massive scale," Snowden said to applause, adding that his revelations of government spying on private communications have resulted in protections that have benefited the public and global society.

Last year, Snowden, who had been working at an NSA facility as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, leaked a raft of secret documents that revealeda vast US government system for monitoring phone and internet data.

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Edward Snowden: NSA setting fire to the internet