This "weaponization" of the Internet narrative is based around casting vulnerabilities as if they're "nobody's fault", rather than mundane gross negligence. The digital realm inherently favors defenders - if there is no logic error, packets just bounce off. And this applies even in the less-certain psychological realm - foster a culture of rejecting sensationalized propaganda and it will no longer rule elections!
But a narrative based around shoring up defenses and being diligent would be pretty boring. And the news media certainly doesn't want to attack propaganda generally, merely stave off "Russian" propaganda to preserve their own authority. So the whole topic gets sensationalized as the age-old escalation-aimed status quo - governments saber ratting at each other to drum up internal support.
But free people are not countries and we are especially not governments. What Snowden exposed was how governments, specifically the US government, are attacking their own citizens in the name of this "security". Everybody involved in tech should have already known, but just didn't want to admit it to themselves because it is so "anti-American" and conflicts with the web 2.0 gravy train. Snowden certainly wasn't the first, but he was at the right time with the right information the public can grok (XKEYSCORE vs 641A).
Additionally, the government has no philosophical mandate without the oversight of and subservience to The People. If you want to throw around the term "traitor", look no further than these agencies that swear oath to the Constitution and then work to undermine it by escaping from its governance! No matter how much "collateral damage" was done to that game of USG spooks playing with other spooks, spilling the beans is justified to push these activities back under control of the People.
"Blindly trust us, we're working behind the scenes to keep you safe, but can't tell you how" is not the setup of a Free society. This is the overarching dynamic that the mass media generally downplays in their present narrative, preferring people identify with the power structure rather than emphasizing how it is acting against them.