Julian Assange. How many times have you heard that name in the last few years? Born in Townsville, this "silver-haired Australian" (Wachter, 2010) is the founder of the headlining website WikiLeaks.org.Some may describe Assange as a whistleblower, activist or terrorist. I choose the word "hacktivist". I come to this conclusion after reading about his efforts hacking into computers of the worlds most powerful leaders and organisations. He has unveiled information that is supposed to be confidential. Oh, how easy it seems to access private data.
The "media insurgency" does not consist of paid staff, copiers, desks or an office and it is unclear of what Assange has done that is officially illegal.
After I viewed 4 Corners documentary, "The Forgotten Man" (warning, footage may be disturbing for some viewers), about Assange and WikiLeaks, I began to ask myself "Why are authorities trying to stop WikiLeaks and shut it down? Assange is doing the right thing, he's exposing the truth to the world". Leaked footage shown in the documentary of the US army shooting down unarmed Afghani men, helped my naive mind come to terms with the concern governments and oganisations have with WikiLeaks and why such footage should be kept under wraps.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns Assange that WikiLeaks "puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines [US] efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems" (cited in Kinsman, 2011). Leaking such disturbing and horrific footage can quite possibly amplify political issue surrounding the war resulting in terrible consequences. Unless the world's "secrets" are disclosed in ways that cannot be hacked, unfortunately for a lot of governments and organisations, yet fortunately for Assange's followers and fans, I believe WikiLeaks will be around for many years to come.
Sure enough, certain information should stay within the government and organisations and this is a reason as to why there is so much controversy surrounding WikiLeaks. I can just imagine the discomfort I would feel knowing someone knew something extremely confidential about me, threatening to publish it on a website or social media site. It would be deplorable. However, in this day and age, big scandals are something that everyone will be interested in and want to know about and anyone who is willing to expose such stories has some real nerve!
References:
Kinsman, J, 2011, 'Truth and Consequences: The WikiLeaks Saga', Policy Options, viewed 21st January 2013, <http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/feb11/kinsman.pdf>
Wachter, P, 2010, ‘Just Who Is Julian Assange, The man Behind WikiLeaks?’, Aolnews., viewed 21st January 2013, <http://www.aolnews.com/2010/07/26/just-who-is-julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks/>
"Sure enough, certain information should stay within the government and organisations and this is a reason as to why there is so much controversy surrounding WikiLeaks."
ReplyDeleteI think wikileaks have done quite well with what they have chosen to release. They are issues in the public interest. It seems governments are more worried about being embarrassed by this information than they are about security risks.
I believe in governments being accountable for their action and exposing them is a good thing - however playing devils advocate at what cost and at what measures should these be exposed.
ReplyDeleteIt does concern me that Assange was able to hack into the Australian Federal Government's database because if he can, surely others can as well. I think there is a limit to maximum public exposure as it possibly can jeopardise national security and our relationships with other countries. In this case though I think they really just embarrassed the US government. However, I also do believe the government should be more forth-right about their activities and expenditure before studying this unit I did not know e-government sites existed so I think they should promote these more.
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