Edward Snowden Tells SXSW He’d Leak Those Secrets Again

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has leaked large amounts of classified information about the agency's electronic surveillance programs, spoke via video to a sympathetic audience at South By Southwest Interactive on Monday.

Snowden, who is wanted for prosecution in the U.S., was in Russia, where he's been given temporary asylum. Repeating things he's said before, Snowden declared Monday that he would do what he did all over again because he had seen the Constitution being "violated on a massive scale."

The Obama administration disagrees, though Snowden's revelations did begin a process that earlier this year led the president to say he wants the NSA to stop holding on to massive amounts of "metadata" about the phone calls and electronic communications of millions of people around the world.

We posted some highlights from Snowden's comments. As you'll see, he faced no tough questions.

Earlier today, All Tech Considered previewed his SXSW appearance.

Update at 1:02 p.m. ET. Would He Do It Again? "Absolutely Yes":

The last question to Snowden is about whether he would do what he's done again. "Absolutely yes," he says, adding that he "took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and I saw the Constitution ... being violated on a massive scale."

The surveillance programs, he adds, take the Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures and turn it into "any seizure is fine, just don't search it."

Update at 12:59 p.m. ET. The Problem With Contractors:

Snowden has worked both inside the government and for contractors outside it. The problem with contractors, he says, is that "they aren't accountable."

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Edward Snowden Tells SXSW He'd Leak Those Secrets Again