Does the First Amendment Protect Whistle-Blowers?

Whistle blowing is when an individual within an organization or company reveals information about said company that would never otherwise be revealed. This is a very controversial topic since there are two sides to the argument on whistle blowing: people who believe it is morally right to blow the whistle versus the people who believe that this action is always unjustified. To give you a better understanding of whistleblowing, I’ll provide a popular example. Edward Snowden worked for the US government on their surveillance programs and found that the government was monitoring people and had more information on each citizen than we realized.  Snowden leaked this information to the public without permission and was forced to face serious consequences.

Aside from whether this is morally correct or not, is this action protected under the First Amendment? Technically it is protected under the two clauses: freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Snowden did have the freedom to express what he wanted through any platform that he desired but unfortunately further consequences of his actions are not protected under the First Amendment. 

Since whistle blowing is in the news right now, I thought that it would be an interesting topic to present. Click here to read about a recent whistle blowing incident with our president!

Here is a picture of Edward Snowden