Snowden seeking to protect journalists, whistleblowers

The whistleblower has been quietly serving as board president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit that supports public-interest journalism.

Ashlee Clark Thompson Associate Editor

Ashlee spent time as a newspaper reporter, AmeriCorps VISTA and an employee at a healthcare company before she landed at CNET. She loves to eat, write and watch "Golden Girls" (preferably all three at the same time). The first two hobbies help her out as an appliance reviewer. The last one makes her an asset to trivia teams. Ashlee also created the blog, AshleeEats.com, where she writes about casual dining in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Ashlee Clark Thompson

Feb. 14, 2017 8:02 a.m. PT

Edward Snowden has been living in asylum in Russia since 2013, when this photo was taken.
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Edward Snowden, the US intelligence contractor turned whistleblower who has been living in Russia since 2013 to avoid espionage charges, has turned his attention to helping protect journalists and their sources.

Since early 2016, Snowden has "quietly" been serving as president of San Francisco-based nonprofit Freedom of the Press Foundation, according to a Wired report published Tuesday. The foundation's goal is to "support and defend public-interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption, and law-breaking in government" through digital security, advocacy and crowdfunding, according to the foundation's website.

Freedom of the Press Foundation also developed and maintains the SecureDrop project, an "open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from and communicate with anonymous sources."

The foundation didn't immediately return a request for comment.