system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why isn't Edward Snowden protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989?
gpt
Technically, he is not a whistleblower. He committed an act of espionage by stealing state secrets and publicizing them. He is a spy. However, it was in the public's (worldwide) best interest to receive this information and it would not be possible to attain it through official channels. He should be treated like a whistleblower. 

He should stay out of the US because he will never be free here, no matter how well respected he is. Most people don't understand the actual reality of this, but the intelligence community in America is very powerful, far-reaching, and corrupt. Even if he could avoid prison or legal prosecution, his day-to-day existence could be made more miserable than any jail cell.