Does State Surveillance Protect Our Freedoms?

Former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz argued that, \u201cBe it resolved state surveillance is a legitimate defence of our freedoms.\u201d Journalist ?Glenn Greenwald and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian argued against.

\u201cIt is the security practitioners, those rarely in the headlines but whose craft and energy quietly break new ground, who keep us safe or put us in peril.\u201d ~ Michael Hayden

\u201cSurveillance equals power. The more you know about someone, the more you can control and manipulate them in all sorts of ways. That is one reason a Surveillance State is so menacing to basic political liberties.\u201d ~ Glenn Greenwald

\u201cThe state now is moving much more from reacting to violence to a proactive, preemptive, preventive mode of intelligence gathering.\u201d ~ Alan Dershowitz

\u201cEvery other country in the world looked at us as a role model for privacy and freedom. And we dropped the ball.\u201d ~ Alexis Ohanian

The pre-debate results was 33% pro, 46% con, 21% undecided.

The post-debate results was 41% pro, 59% con.

The team opposed to the resolution won with a 13% vote gain.

\u201cBe it resolved state surveillance is a legitimate defence of our freedoms.\u201d

More at Munk Debates: State Surveillance

Source: C-Span: Munk Debate on State Surveillance

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