PROVIDED BY CNNNEXT.COM
US intelligence confirms it is collecting the private messages of internet users but defends the move, claiming the mass surveillance was targeting only "non-US persons" outside the country.
Earlier British and American papers reported that the US was tapping directly into the servers of leading American internet companies, getting access to personal e-mails, photos and documents.
A leaked court order has become the first hard evidence of Washington's sweeping data collection program.
RT's Anastasia Churkina reports.
Eugene Puryear, an activist for the civil rights organization Answer Coalition, joins after to give his perspective on the issue.
