NSA whistleblower Snowden will talk via videolink from Moscow this weekend about the future of privacy, surveillance technology and democratic oversight

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Edward Snowden will make his first UK public appearance via satellite link this weekend more than one year since the Guardian published his revelations about mass surveillance and the NSA.

Appearing via video link from Moscow, Snowden will be speaking as part of the Observer Ideas festival on Sunday, being held at London’s Barbican Theatre.



His appearance will come two days after the world premiere of Laura Poitras’s documentary about the whistleblower’s revelations, CITIZENFOUR, at the New York Film Festival.



Snowden is also being tipped as one of the favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which is also being announced tomorrow.

Although he has appeared by video at a small number of public events abroad, the Observer Ideas festival will be the first time he’s appeared in Britain. He will answer questions posed by Observer technology columnist John Naughton.

Naughton, who is also the professor of the public understanding of technology at the Open University, has been a keen observer of the impact of Snowden’s revelations said: “I’m tired of people endlessly rehashing the history of Mr Snowden’s revelations, and I’m sure he is too. What matters now is what happens next. He has performed a great service in revealing the astonishing extent and ambition of the national security state.”

“We need to figure out how (and whether) societies can reassert effective democratic control over our security agencies; whether the technology that has enabled comprehensive surveillance can be re-engineered to protect privacy; how our law-making in these areas could be improved, and whether citizens can be persuaded to take an interest in these matters before it’s too late.

“These are the issues I’m looking forward to discussing with Mr Snowden”.

The festival features a line-up of technologists, artists, scientists, activists and musicians including David Simon (creator of The Wire), Tinie Tempah, Evgeny Morozov, Jeremy Deller, Edwyn Collins, Conchita Wurst, Jack Monroe and many more, and is being hosted by the Observer’s editor, John Mulholland.

• Tickets and information about the Observer festival of Ideas is available at observer.co.uk/observer-ideas