What is WikiLeaks about?
Wikileaks is an international non-profit organisation widely recognised for its files published related to news leaks and a plethora of other classified media which it claims to acquire from anonymous sources. It was founded by the Australian publisher and writer Julian Assange in 2006. Through its activities, it aims to bring up the idea that reporters must not be executed or punished for sending or coming up with sensitive information which the public otherwise deserves to know about. The Wikileaks website has an “online Drop box feature” which allows people to maintain their anonymity and simultaneously upload information that they want the world to know about.
What is the vision?
Wikileaks claims Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be its guiding belief and motto which states that every individual is entitled to hold an opinion and express it freely without any interference, along with the freedom to disclose and impart data through media without any censorship.
It runs on the belief that the general public must also be made aware of crucial news and information with evidence in the form of original files, so that the truth becomes all the more credible and the true picture of various controversial incidents comes out for the public to know as well. Wikileaks reportedly works to bring “full transparency” in the system and data disclosure to fight the deep rooted corruption and wrongdoings of the government and the military.
Why is Wikileaks widely criticised around the world?
The website has drawn a lot of criticism and has faced heavy accusations of violating privacy of many individuals and organisations. It is accused of publishing personal information of people inadequately and falsely curating it according to its own requirement. Various instances of violation of data privacy came up increasingly throughout the years like that of leakage of the personal emails and details of Sony employees, and also the passport details of ordinary civilians online amongst the many others.
It is severely criticised for lack of editorial discretion regarding its content and also accusations regarding leak of data which harms the nation’s security. The information leaked by Wikileaks revolves around the most high profile US crimes and the misbehaviour on part of the government and the military forces. Wikileaks faced allegations claiming that it promotes conspiracy theories associated with deaths of known-people like the murder of Seth Rich, for personal and material gains.
A large number of its workers left the organisation citing lack of transparency and communication flow issues in the organisation. They also disclosed that anyone working with Wikileaks is necessarily required to sign a non-disclosure agreement over which only Julian Assange has the sole disclosure right, covering all types of data, conversations or material. Anybody failing to meet this agreement would be subjected to a penalty of £ 12 million. It raised many questions and brought wikileaks into a negative limelight as a hypocrite organization known to work for transparency but failing to meet its own vision in the inner structure.
What are some of the most controversial publications of Wikileaks ?
Amongst the many controversies and accusations in which wikileaks was stuck, the ones which received the most limelight are listed below-
- Afghanistan War Document Leak- On July 25, 2010 Wikileaks posted approximately 90000 highly sensitive documents associated with the deadly Afghanistan war. The data primarily talked about some highly classified US missions regarding the search for Osama Bin Laden and also about the tragic loss of millions of lives during the war. This leak has been considered one of the largest data leaks since that by the Pentagon Paper during the Vietnam War.
- The Iran War Leaks– In the same year, wikileaks published another series of intriguing information regarding the lethal Iraq War, showing the world a whole new perspective of it and an unfortunate data of the total lives of the innocent people lost because of the mismanagement and cruelty. Despite the constant criticism it kept receiving from the previous publications, Wikileaks successfully managed to put up evidences supporting the fact that Iran recklessly kept supporting the Iraqi militants which led to such widespread destruction and loss of human lives.
- Diplomatic Cable Release– Wikileaks received the most intensive criticism and international attention when the website along with a few major newspapers from around the world namely, El Pais (spain) , Le Monde( France), Der Spiegel (Germany), The Guardian (UK) and the New York Times ( US), started concurrently publishing 251,287 confidential documents containing numerous opinions, comments and information regarding the US’s unethical methods to gather information of Ban-Ki-Moon, United Nations diplomats and other officials. Data about the internal operations like political maneuvering, international dealings and various other diplomatic as well as intelligence actions was also leaked.
Did Wikileaks receive any appreciation for its work?
Wikileaks did receive appreciation for introducing a “new journalism style” according to a few editors and media houses. It started getting recognised as the “new breed of media organisation” designed to expose the wrongdoers to the general public and thereby empowering the citizens.
- It was honoured with two prestigious awards namely -The Economist’s New Media Award in 2008 at the Index on Censorship Award and Amnesty International’s UK Media Award in 2009.
- Wikileaks was also stated as the “part of an online phenomenon of an empowered citizen” by the UK Information Commissioner as well.
- The New York Daily News also listed it among the websites that could “change the news” through its reports and publications.
- Its founder, Julian Assange received the Sam Adams Award and was also named the Readers’ Choice for TIME’s Person of the Year .
Why did the founder Julian Assange seek stay in an Asylum and what are the various allegations against him?
Julian Assange who founded Wikileaks is also an australian activist and an editor. He rose to prominence due to the disputed publications of his website wikileaks and made international headlines when wikileaks published a US army military manual for a prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, revealing to the world how the prisoners were kept in isolation for two weeks so that they would give in to the interrogators for smooth questioning.
Apart from being known for his website, Julian Assange was also accused of one rape and one molestation crime in Sweden. Due to which the Sweden Police released an official arrest warrant against Assange. The investigations and Assange’s case were dropped a few years later only at the cost that Assange would not return back to Sweden before the expiration of the statute of limitation on the case.
Julian Assange after a few years decided to apply for the asylum due to the fears of extradition to Sweden which would also lead to his prosecution in the United States due to his publications associated with the internal matters of the US government and the military. Later, his petition to stay in the Asylum was agreed upon while the British and Ecuadorian officials tried to resolve his case.
What are the founder Julian Assange’s personal achievements?
Apart from the many accusations Julian Assange faced, he did manage to publish his own writings and received various awards as well. Some of his accomplishments are listed below-
- He has written his own book named “When Google met Wikileaks” which narrates the incident when the CEO of google Eric Schmidt called for a meeting with Assange during his stay in rural Norfolk, UK.
- Julian Assange’s writings include a few short write ups like “State and terrorist conspiracies” and “Conspiracy as governance” amongst the many.
- He was bestowed with the Time Person of the Year, Reader’s Choice Award in 2010 and won another award in the same year- Le Monde Readers’ Choice Award for Person of the Year.
- Amongst the many other awards, two major awards won by Assange were the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism and the Voltaire Award for Free Speech in 2011.
Julian Assange is currently imprisoned in London in the HM Prison Belmarsh.Reports from the United Nations special Reporter revealed that he has been subjected to psychological torture resulting in extreme anxiety, stress disorder and trauma. 216 medical practitioners from 33 countries of the world issued an official letter demanding justice for Assange in June, 2020.
His website and its publications have been subjected to wide criticism as well as appreciation. For some, his method brought with itself a revolution in the field of news reporting and introduced an empowered investigation journalism style while for some, his work was a breach of privacy and a controversial issue related to the security of the nation.
