system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What did Snowden do exactly, and what are the arguments for and against why he should be tried as a traitor?
gpt
It's generally accepted that Snowden knowingly released classified information about top-secret government programs to media sources.  The information related to programs through which the US government (particularly the National Security Agency) would collect information about citizens, purportedly for national security purposes.  

Why should Snowden face legal charges?  Because by his own admission, he did things that are against the law.  If you break the law, you should go to court.  You don't need to be a lawyer to figure out that there are laws that prohibit people from publicizing information that's deemed classified or top secret.  In some cases, revealing secret information can lead to enemies of the US taking advantage of this information to attack the country.  Needless to say, the government needs to make it clear that such leaks are unacceptable.

Why shouldn't Snowden be punished?  He's a whistleblower who acted in the interest of the American people.  Though they're officially legal, a lot of aspects of the government surveillance programs seem suspicious and against the values of the Constitution.  Specifically, the government seems to have violated the people's right to privacy.  It doesn't seem right to punish Snowden when he acted to expose bad government behavior.  If anyone was the bad guy here, it's the NSA.  Snowden looked out for his fellow Americans and should be treated as a good guy. 

TL;DR: Snowden revealed secret government information.  In doing so, he broke the law, but his goal was to help Americans.