2013 global surveillance disclosures

One time, some grown-ups were secretly spying on other grown-ups all around the world. They were listening to their phone calls, reading their emails, and looking at their messages on the computer. They didn't tell anybody they were doing it and the people who were being spied on didn't even know about it.

Then one day, a secret agent named Edward Snowden found out about it and he was very upset. He thought it was wrong for the grown-ups to spy on other grown-ups without telling them. So, he told everyone about it!

Everyone was very surprised and some people were very mad. They said that the grown-ups who were doing the spying were breaking the rules and it was not okay. Other people said that the spying was necessary to keep people safe.

Now, people all over the world are talking about it and trying to decide what to do next. Some people want to change the rules so that grown-ups can't spy on each other without telling them. Others think that it's okay to keep spying on each other as long as it keeps us safe.