1 June 2017, 09:43 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The whistleblower added that the consequences for Japanese society could be even more severe if the adopted bill would coincide with the use of the XKEYSCORE data collection system.
"This is the beginning of a new wave of mass surveillance in Japan," Snowden said.
According to him, the situation in the Asian country was reminiscent of the security situation in the United States shortly after 9/11.
In March, the Japanese government approved the conspiracy bill that could allegedly crack down on terror attack plotters in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but critics fear it could increase the state surveillance of labor unions and other civil rights groups. The draft law criminalizes preparations and planning of 277 crimes.
