The former National Security Agency worker, who leaked classified documents about government surveillance, started tweeting Wednesday. He had more than 185,000 followers an hour after his first tweet, "Can you hear me now?" Snowden is following just one account: tweets from the National Security Agency.
Can you hear me now?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
Like other high-profile people on the messaging service, the account has a blue and white check mark, indicating that it was verified by Twitter.
Snowden is currently living in exile in Russia. He faces charges in the U.S. that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.
Twitter has hosted other controversial figures and groups. Whistleblower website WikiLeaks has a verified Twitter account, as does Kim Dotcom, the founder of illegal download site Megaupload.
.@neiltyson Thanks for the welcome. And now we've got water on Mars! Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015

