WikiLeaks, NSA leaker Edward Snowden clash on Twitter

This file photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden in Hong Kong. AP

PARIS—National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and transparency website WikiLeaks are clashing over how best to handle the publication of sensitive data, a spat played out over Twitter.

WikiLeaks has come under increasing criticism over what it publishes, particularly following the release of what the website advertised as emails from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party.

When a large numbers of emails turned out to be little more than messages from ordinary citizens, critics said WikiLeaks should have exercised better discretion to protect innocent people’s privacy.

Snowden praised WikiLeaks on Thursday but said their “hostility to even modest curation is a mistake.” WikiLeaks fired back , accusing Snowden of “opportunism.”

Such a public split is unusual. WikiLeaks played a key role in getting Snowden asylum in Russia in 2013.