&gt;&gt; the reality won&#x27;t change that covert surveillance is not good for a country and its citizens.<p>I don&#x27;t agree. Surveillance\Censorship is necessary and it has to get better over time. In the era of social networks and virality, bad stuff  spreads at a speed and scale no one has seen before. If the Twitter CEO is saying &quot;We suck at dealing with abuse&quot; it isn&#x27;t a stretch to believe the Intelligence agencies and defense establishment sucks at preventing worse stuff like the Boston Bombings or ISIS recruitment.