Edward Snowden's 'pornography' question to Elon Musk over Twitter ban on wife's pic with baby

Edward Snowden tweeted to Elon Musk over his baby's photo with his wife being taken down. (2nd image: @Snowden/Twitter)

Former CIA employee and National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has a question for Twitter boss Elon Musk. In a tweet, he said that his wife, Lindsay Mill's account was locked because of a photo with her baby where the child’s bare back and bottom was visible.

“Twitter just locked my wife @lsjourneys's account for an ancient baby photo that even *spineless Instagram* had no problem with. Do parents need to worry? Are baby butts, happy bath photos, etc. banworthy now?” Snowden wrote sharing the photo.

The image apparently goes against Twitter's policies against nudity and promotion of adult pornography which led to the original photo being brought down.

Then came another tweet where he directly addressed Musk.

“Does this look like pornography to you, @ElonMusk? If you have a machine handing out bans for pictures that could be on a Hallmark Card, it's time to dial back the algorithm. Just my opinion,” Snowden, 39, tweeted quoting the earlier one.

Does this look like pornography to you, @ElonMusk? If you have a machine handing out bans for pictures that could be on a Hallmark Card, it's time to dial back the algorithm.

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Just my opinion. https://t.co/3Ixmu6s7bK

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 18, 2023

Twitter was a bit divided over the photo.

“It’s a cute pic but I do agree with Twitter. Please remember that Twitter is fighting against child-porn. It’s priority #1 and this is a naked baby. Doesn’t matter if from the front, back etc. But I do understand your intentions behind this pic, which is cute,” one user wrote.

“I can see the misjudgement of the algorithm. Baby's butt crack or intergluteal cleft misjudged as woman's body part. Machines are not trained for such images. It's valid for a machine to moderate this in error (sic),” another user wrote.

“There are two completely unrelated issues here. Obviously you/your wife did nothing wrong, and there's nothing inherently wrong with the photo. The problem is that some weirdos will view it as if it were pornography. If I were you I would pick another battle. It's not worth it,” another comment read.

One user wrote: “I can see how the algorithm could easily interpret this as coming from a child pornographer... I mean, it's a naked adult holding a naked baby with its butt showing. And if the algorithm errs on the side of caution I'm okay with that.”

Snowden gained international attention in 2013 for leaking classified information about government surveillance programs. He leaked classified documents to journalists from The Guardian and The Washington Post, revealing the extent of government surveillance on American citizens and people around the world. The leaks exposed the NSA's collection of phone records, internet communications, and other forms of data, sparking a debate about privacy and government surveillance.

The US Department of Justice charged him with espionage and theft of government property, and he fled to Hong Kong before eventually being granted asylum in Russia.