Amanda Reyes Chris Connell Lindsey McQuiston Amanda Reyes Chris Connell Lindsey McQuiston
Introduction WikiLeaks is notoriously known as a site for people who like to talk about other peoples’ business. The website faced the government for various charges concerning censorship, and has essentially been on the border of containing “too much information” for the government to handle ever since. WikiLeaks is on the verge of being shut down. Responsible for posting classified, confidential, or secret documents for just about anyone to see. Its original mandate was to “expose oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, sub- Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
Background IIn January 2007, WikiLeaks.org was launched by “Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and startup company technologists, from the U.S., Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa. IIn March of 2008, WikiLeaks publishes documents originating from the Church of Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs. The church demanded WikiLeaks to take down the documents but in respone, they unloaded thousands of more memos.
Background Cont. September Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account was compromised by a member of Anonymous, an online group of hackers, in the final months of the presidential campaign. Personal s were posted to WikiLeaks, and questions are raised about whether Palin used the personal account to flout public records laws. November WikiLeaks posted s and other documents hinting at collusion among U.K. scientists to withhold data. December The draft agreement from the Copenhagen Climate Conference that would abort the Kyoto accord and limit the UN’s role in future negotiations is posted to WikiLeaks.
What’s Happening Now? On February 24, Assange was able to be extradited to Sweden for questioning pertaining to his “sexual crime,” however he is appealing within the next ten days. His defense team argued against this extradition and now wants him to be prosecuted to the United States for a crime that could result in the death penalty, publishing classified government documents.
Isn’t Assange just exercising his freedom of speech? Assange argues that what he did was “within the publics best interest” and he was simply “exercising his first amendment” The Obama administration and other critics say that “airing such classified material endangers the troops and amounts to a propaganda victory for the enemy”
What Do You Think?