(Source: Care2 News Network)
WARNING: This article contains raw, unedited war footage which may be sensitive to some viewers.
The case of Wikileaks, the non-for-profit organisation allowing the public freedom to access confidential government and military cables and documents, has sent shockwaves through international governments and citizens alike. My opinions aside, there are obvious criticisms to be made on both sides of the fence.
Clay Shirky asks how ubiquity of the internet affects U.S Government interests and policy. He highlights Hilary Clinton's promotion to freedom of access, production of content and speech online (2011, p28-29). Fast forward one year since her January 2010 announcement, the U.S is trying frantically to shut Wikileaks down and have Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, charged with espionage. All the while, Wikileaks has burst the freedom of access argument wide open by refusing to reveal the identity of their sources, while openly displaying the confidential details of others.
(Source: The Young Turks)
While the news media continues to toss the hypocrisy card from one side to the next, we are forgetting the fundamental aspect of this argument: the freedom of opinion within the public sphere. In Marrissa Prince's self-titled blog, she states “you cannot deny that new media is making the barrier between the people and the government more transparent than ever” (2010). With not even 3% of Wikileaks 251,287 leaked U.S embassy cables released in the four month since their obtain (wikileaks.com), there is still much to be speculated, argued, and thankfully, publicly discussed.
Prince, M. 2011. 'Internet = Freedom of Speech?' from Marissa Prince.
Shriky. C. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology; the public sphere and political change”from Foreign Affairs, Vol 90 Issue 1: p.28-41
Wikileaks. 2011. Cable Viewer. Exact URL hidden.
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