NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is all set to interact with audiences at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival in Austin, CNN reported.
A release from SXSW also confirmed the news. Through teleconference from Russia, where he is in exile, Snowden would have a conversation with Christopher Soghoian, the principal technologist at American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The conversation is expected to revolve around the impact of NSA's spying on the technology community and discuss ways to protect the community from surveillance. It further said that the session would be moderated by Ben Wizner, the director of ACLU's speech, privacy and technology project.
"The growth of social media has fueled so much of the growth of the online ecosystem, but the revelations from the summer of 2013 expose the costs and downsides of this growth," said Hugh Forrest, director of SXSW Interactive, according to CNN. He further stated that it took three months to get Snowden on-board.
The event is being organized at the Austin Convention Center on March 10 at 11 a.m. SXSW said that a gold or platinum interactive badge is required to attend the session. Those who cannot make the event and hear Snowden speak at the convention center can watch the discussion streamed live by the Texas Tribune.
Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith told CNET that his site will have no difficulty in handling the traffic during the streaming, while adding that they expect to see their highest ever traffic when Snowden speaks.
CNET also reported that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, and journalist Gleen Grenwald who helped Snowden in information dissemination will be speaking Saturday afternoon.
The session will also be simulcast at two other venues in the convention center and those who miss the online live stream can replay the recording on ACLU website, the news release from SXSW said.
