Edward Snowden wasn’t a whistleblower. He stole US intelligence material as a contractor, leaked it to the press and fled the country to avoid facing criminal c

Edward Snowden wasn’t a whistleblower. He stole US intelligence material as a contractor, leaked it to the press and fled the country to avoid facing criminal charges. The whistleblowing process is not break the law then claim whistleblower protection. You report wrongdoing to a specific, independent body and are offered protection against retribution. A better example of the system is the whistleblower on Trump’s first impeachment, who is still protected under law and still can’t have their identity revealed publicly. Edit: To clarify, this only applies to the federal government. I only bring it up since you named two individuals who were associated with the federal government. With Amazon and other private companies, leaking to the press is effective and encouraged.