"Dear Mr. Snowden, you're a former spy, and I used to work in intelligence, so you and I are going to speak to each other as professionals," Putin said. Putin then denied Russia had programs "on an uncontrolled scale," omitting secret services' SORM problem, a direct equivalent of the NSA's controversial PRISM operation. Snowden's appearance was a propaganda coup for Putin, who positioned Russia as a greater supporter of civil liberties and internet freedom than the U.S. and did not have to answer questions about Russia's moves to restrict the internet.