Wikileaks and the Freedom of the Press - Case Study Example

Has Wikileaks advanced or endangered the freedom of the press? Student’s Name Institution Date Introduction WikiLeaks is an international nonprofit organization that works on the principle of transparency. The corporation mainly focuses on the publications of leaks on the premise of their ethical, political and historical implications on the community. WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 by a collective effort of dissidents, Chinese journalists and also mathematicians. Also, qualified technologists from the United States, South African, Australia Europe and also Taiwan were integral in the formation of this company (Reynolds, 2014). Purpose of the paper The paper will clearly highlight the controversies that the corporation has been involved in, its role in the press and also the justification that WikiLeaks has advanced the freedom of the media through their transparency efforts of revealing the truth behind the various practices occurring in the society that remain hidden to the public. The paper will also show the implications that the organization has faced in their transparency efforts, the injustices they have suffered in the spirit of revealing the truth of the sensitive issues globally. The paper will finally provide a rationale for supporting Wikileaks as a true champion in the field of press publication with full disclosure of the truth. A brief overview of the organization The process of transparency publications ultimately leads to the creation of a better society for all individuals. Gournelos & Gunkel (2011) emphasize that better examination and scrutiny leads to the reduction of corruption and also stronger decisions in all the institutions of the society. These agencies include corporations, the government and also other organizations. A healthy, inquisitive and vibrant journalistic media plays a critical role in the achievement of these goals. WikiLeaks is part of this media. WikiLeaks is a media corporation that assists anonymous individuals, leaks secret information through their website. The numerous controversies concerning WikiLeaks and their role in the civil society have never ceased. The risks of WikiLeaks have made people acquire the power of the press in a serious manner, and numerous hidden realities have emerged to the surface. WikiLeaks has dominated the news due to their release of secret documents. Wikileaks has modified how news is presented since its daring leaking and the development of an appropriate safety framework that a person can submit their documents. Julian Assange is the founder of Wikileaks. He is an Australian Internet activist, and he is among the few members of the organization that is widely recognized by the public. The corporation has their team that verifies news stories through traditional investigative journalism frameworks and also more modern technology-based strategies. They highlight the source of the material to the public so that the public can clearly view that the fact themselves without personal prejudice interfering with the authenticity of this information. WikiLeaks initially published their first document in 2006, and this report was based on an assignation. After this report had been published, WikiLeaks posted several United States Army classified documents concerning the Afghanistan War. Controversies of the company Some people feel that WikiLeaks has not observed their ethical mandate as they are currently leaking information through legitimate means. These people have claimed that information released usually shakes the confidence of citizens in various nations of their governments and also these individuals submitting the leaked documents may get arrested or killed (Star, 2011). These people also assert that WikiLeaks have not changed their ways of releasing these sensitive documents to the public. WikiLeaks has regularly been investigated and held responsible by the United States government by the reason of releasing classified United States government information. Numerous long-running disputes concerning the freedom of the press have now been analyzed again. Sifry, (2011), stated that these leaks had shaken the confidence of American Citizens on the validity of the war to some extent. The United States government put WikiLeaks on the watch list and made declarations that it was currently under criminal investigation. The organization then proceeded on leaking the air strike that occurred in Baghdad. This contained a video that was about how Americans forced the killing of civilians and journalists. The website also mentioned several names. Wikileaks has mainly dedicated itself to exposing secret government documents, records of some organizations and companies especially those of associated with the American government. In 2013, Snowden Edward became highly famous since he leaked important classified information of NSA in Asia particularly, in Hong Kong. The U.S officials have officially revoked the passport of Snowden (Harding, 2014). When he traveled to Moscow, a member of the WikiLeaks Company, Sarah Harrison accompanied him on June 23.Later that day, Julian Assange made an announcement that he paid for the living expense of Snowden in Hong Kong. Snowden had a significant association to WikiLeaks. Another exposure event that WikiLeaks was involved in was that of Bradley Manning. Bradley was a United States soldier that was arrested in 2010 due to leaking several confidential reports to the public through the WikiLeaks organization (Leigh, & Harding, 2011). Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in leaking this case. One the trial ended, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Wisner Ben conducted a speech that stated that it was a dark day for all American Citizens that depend on free press and courageous whistleblowers for a fully informed public debate. The freedom of the speech on the internet made numerous headlines in this instance again. WikiLeaks has been mainly involved in the publication of important high profile document concerning allegations of the misbehavior of the United States government. Most of their documents have consistently related to the hidden crimes and abuse subjected to prisoners of war. WikiLeaks released reports in March 2007 where the United States military that was based at Guantanamo Bay were allegedly mistreating the prisoners. Some detainees in the prison were placed in several isolated areas where the members of the Red Cross, the often assisted inmates in the spectrum of health. Red Cross was barred entirely from gaining access to these prisoners. Once the publication of these events came to light, the United States military implicitly denied these allegations. On November 2010, WikiLeaks commenced on releasing United States Department Diplomatic Cables. This organization collaborated with other media corporations and published the first articles which revealed that over two hundred and fifty thousand confidential reports had been leaked to the company. In the same night, the initial two hundred and nineteen documents of the diplomatic cables were published on their website (Castells, 2013). According to WikiLeaks, these cables were to be released during the preceding months. By the start of December 2010, over eight hundred cables had been issued on the Wiki Leaks website. These diplomatic cables are said to have originated from the Secret Internet Network. This network is a closed branch of the United States Department of Defense. In the past ten years, the various embassies of the United States globally were plugged into SIPRNET with the sole purpose of increasing information sharing. Documents could be easily obtained on SIPRNET for over two million individuals that typically included all military personnel. About one hundred thousand of the cables that were leaked were highly confidential and about fifteen thousand of these had a higher secret classification. The implications faced by WikiLeaks in their efforts of transparency On December 2010, there United States government made the announcement that WikiLeaks will be investigated for criminal activities, and therefore, there would be numerous reprimands for any individual that may have leaked or would leak documents concerning the United States during this period. During this similar time, Assange was also arrested was also arrested on the next day in Britain and accusations of sexual assaults were made in Sweden. However, he was released nine days late against bail on home arrest. No charges due to these several leaks have been filed in a court of law against Assange. Bennett, & Strange, (2014) have asserted that WikiLeaks also became a target for blocks and several attacks. Immediately once publication of the document had been done, a denial of service attack was directed against WikiLeaks and their website. WikiLeaks was also sanctioned by various government institutions in nations such as Australia, China and also the United States. In America; numerous university students received significant warnings concerning their affiliations with WikiLeaks. People were warned by the State Department not to try reporting, reading or commenting on any WikiLeaks issue. Their justification behind this warning was that since WikiLeaks was still under criminal investigations, and their release of classified documents made the organization a threat to national security. Support of the organization Several agencies have agreed on the significant value that Wiki Leaks has had through the indication of the violations of civil liberties and human rights. The amount of corruption this organization has exposed is highly profound in history, and no other corporation comes close to WikiLeaks especially in the efforts of exposing the misuse of power. Several civil rights organizations have currently openly supported the work of WikiLeaks because if such reasons. The rationale behind their support is based on the principles of fair rules and also the justified functionality element of civil society and democracy. If secrecy of various administrative documents is utilized in hiding misbehavior of the government, especially inhumane conditions and murdering of individuals, there must be legal grounds that ensure formal borders of secrecy are overcome. This component is a justified mechanism of safeguarding a democratic society and also citizens against the secret power created by the government Effects of the leaks divulged b the company. Several civil rights activists have raised concerns on how the organization handled the entire diplomatic cables issue. Some civil rights institutions have ceased completely supporting WikiLeaks. Also, some reporters have debated on their genuine purpose of releasing the leaks of the Afghan Diary. They accused the organization of various instances of lack of accountability. However, an antithesis of their ideology is that they value and have acknowledged the efforts of WikiLeaks in the role in exposing the infringements on human rights and civil liberties; however, the issue of the Afghan War Diary was highly different to some extent (Simon, 2014). WikiLeaks has been accused of revealing identities of hundreds of individuals that collaborated with the Afghan coalition and made them highly vulnerable for further instances of violence. WikiLeaks is currently involved in significant political activities that have evolved into various shapes in the last few years, and several transparency activists have supported every single effort by WikiLeaks. While it may be highly unquestionable that these leaks concerning prison violence and war crimes have provided valuable information for societies, it has become even harder not to see the value of the information from massive amounts of diplomatic cables (Beckett, 2013). Conclusion WikiLeaks is no more than a helping hand in spreading important information to the public. From areas of common ethics and morality to international diplomacy, this organization has been created to reveal important truths concerning important issues. None of the released documents has allowed the people of this democracy to view the adverse effects that the government is capable of doing. The existence of WikiLeaks is a great thing. A person cannot be truly for democracy, and be a journalist. Especially if they do not believe that the potential for revealing these wrongdoings would assist in keeping the people in power accountable. The double standards of journalists that fail to comprehend why the government must safeguard their information sources are disappointing (Porterfield, 2012). These journalists are the first people that must implicitly understand the rationale and logic behind this. If these individuals that leaked information to WikiLeaks did not think that WikiLeaks had the ability to maintain the identities of their names secret, they might never have revealed anything. References Beckett, C. (2013). WikiLeaks: News in the Networked Era. John Wiley & Sons Bennett, J. & Strange, N. (2014). Media Independence: Either Working with Freedom Or Working for Free?. Volume 69 of Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies. Routledge. Castells, M. (2013). Communication Power. OUP Oxford Gournelos, T. & Gunkel D. J. (2011). Transgression 2.0: The Media, Culture, and the Politics of a Digital Age. A&C Black Harding, L. (2014). The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. Guardian Faber Publishing Leigh, D. & Harding, L. (2011). WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy. Guardian Books Porterfield, J. (2012). Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Internet Biographies Series. The Rosen Publishing Group Reynolds, G. (2014). Ethics in Information Technology. Cengage Learning Sifry, M. L. (2011). Wikileaks and the Age of Transparency. OR Books Simon, J. (2014). The New Censorship: An Inside look at the Global Battle for Media Freedom. Columbia Journalism Review Books. Columbia University Press Star, A. (2011). Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War, and American Diplomacy. The New York Times Company Read More

These people also assert that WikiLeaks have not changed their ways of releasing these sensitive documents to the public. WikiLeaks has regularly been investigated and held responsible by the United States government by the reason of releasing classified United States government information. Numerous long-running disputes concerning the freedom of the press have now been analyzed again. Sifry, (2011), stated that these leaks had shaken the confidence of American Citizens on the validity of the war to some extent.

The United States government put WikiLeaks on the watch list and made declarations that it was currently under criminal investigation. The organization then proceeded on leaking the air strike that occurred in Baghdad. This contained a video that was about how Americans forced the killing of civilians and journalists. The website also mentioned several names. Wikileaks has mainly dedicated itself to exposing secret government documents, records of some organizations and companies especially those of associated with the American government.

In 2013, Snowden Edward became highly famous since he leaked important classified information of NSA in Asia particularly, in Hong Kong. The U.S officials have officially revoked the passport of Snowden (Harding, 2014). When he traveled to Moscow, a member of the WikiLeaks Company, Sarah Harrison accompanied him on June 23.Later that day, Julian Assange made an announcement that he paid for the living expense of Snowden in Hong Kong. Snowden had a significant association to WikiLeaks. Another exposure event that WikiLeaks was involved in was that of Bradley Manning.

Bradley was a United States soldier that was arrested in 2010 due to leaking several confidential reports to the public through the WikiLeaks organization (Leigh, & Harding, 2011). Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in leaking this case. One the trial ended, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Wisner Ben conducted a speech that stated that it was a dark day for all American Citizens that depend on free press and courageous whistleblowers for a fully informed public debate.

The freedom of the speech on the internet made numerous headlines in this instance again. WikiLeaks has been mainly involved in the publication of important high profile document concerning allegations of the misbehavior of the United States government. Most of their documents have consistently related to the hidden crimes and abuse subjected to prisoners of war. WikiLeaks released reports in March 2007 where the United States military that was based at Guantanamo Bay were allegedly mistreating the prisoners.

Some detainees in the prison were placed in several isolated areas where the members of the Red Cross, the often assisted inmates in the spectrum of health. Red Cross was barred entirely from gaining access to these prisoners. Once the publication of these events came to light, the United States military implicitly denied these allegations. On November 2010, WikiLeaks commenced on releasing United States Department Diplomatic Cables. This organization collaborated with other media corporations and published the first articles which revealed that over two hundred and fifty thousand confidential reports had been leaked to the company.

In the same night, the initial two hundred and nineteen documents of the diplomatic cables were published on their website (Castells, 2013). According to WikiLeaks, these cables were to be released during the preceding months. By the start of December 2010, over eight hundred cables had been issued on the Wiki Leaks website. These diplomatic cables are said to have originated from the Secret Internet Network. This network is a closed branch of the United States Department of Defense. In the past ten years, the various embassies of the United States globally were plugged into SIPRNET with the sole purpose of increasing information sharing.

Documents could be easily obtained on SIPRNET for over two million individuals that typically included all military personnel.

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