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In reply to the discussion: WikiLeaks is a right wing website, PERIOD [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)49. Snowden's revelations and the DNC emails are but two of many counterexamples
Western liberalism is helped, not harmed, by revelations of the misdeeds of powerful people.
Here's Wikipedia's summary of Wikileaks's early years:
2006-08
WikiLeaks posted its first document in December 2006, a decision to assassinate government officials signed by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys {of Somalia}.[28] In August 2007, the UK newspaper The Guardian published a story about corruption by the family of the former Kenyan leader Daniel arap Moi based on information provided via WikiLeaks.[132] In November 2007, a March 2003 copy of Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta detailing the protocol of the U.S. Army at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp was released.[133][134] The document revealed that some prisoners were off-limits to the International Committee of the Red Cross, something that the U.S. military had in the past denied repeatedly.[135] In February 2008, WikiLeaks released allegations of illegal activities at the Cayman Islands branch of the Swiss Bank Julius Baer, which resulted in the bank suing WikiLeaks and obtaining an injunction which temporarily suspended the operation of wikileaks.org.[136] The California judge had the service provider of WikiLeaks block the site's domain (wikileaks.org) on 18 February 2008, although the bank only wanted the documents to be removed but WikiLeaks had failed to name a contact. The website was instantly mirrored by supporters, and later that month the judge overturned his previous decision citing First Amendment concerns and questions about legal jurisdiction.[137][138] In March 2008, WikiLeaks published what they referred to as "the collected secret 'bibles' of Scientology," and three days later received letters threatening to sue them for breach of copyright.[139] In September 2008, during the 2008 United States presidential election campaigns, the contents of a Yahoo account belonging to Sarah Palin (the running mate of Republican presidential nominee John McCain) were posted on WikiLeaks after being hacked into by members of a group known as Anonymous.[140][141] In November 2008, the membership list of the far-right British National Party was posted to WikiLeaks, after appearing briefly on a weblog.[142] A year later, on October 2009, another list of BNP members was leaked.[143]
WikiLeaks posted its first document in December 2006, a decision to assassinate government officials signed by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys {of Somalia}.[28] In August 2007, the UK newspaper The Guardian published a story about corruption by the family of the former Kenyan leader Daniel arap Moi based on information provided via WikiLeaks.[132] In November 2007, a March 2003 copy of Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta detailing the protocol of the U.S. Army at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp was released.[133][134] The document revealed that some prisoners were off-limits to the International Committee of the Red Cross, something that the U.S. military had in the past denied repeatedly.[135] In February 2008, WikiLeaks released allegations of illegal activities at the Cayman Islands branch of the Swiss Bank Julius Baer, which resulted in the bank suing WikiLeaks and obtaining an injunction which temporarily suspended the operation of wikileaks.org.[136] The California judge had the service provider of WikiLeaks block the site's domain (wikileaks.org) on 18 February 2008, although the bank only wanted the documents to be removed but WikiLeaks had failed to name a contact. The website was instantly mirrored by supporters, and later that month the judge overturned his previous decision citing First Amendment concerns and questions about legal jurisdiction.[137][138] In March 2008, WikiLeaks published what they referred to as "the collected secret 'bibles' of Scientology," and three days later received letters threatening to sue them for breach of copyright.[139] In September 2008, during the 2008 United States presidential election campaigns, the contents of a Yahoo account belonging to Sarah Palin (the running mate of Republican presidential nominee John McCain) were posted on WikiLeaks after being hacked into by members of a group known as Anonymous.[140][141] In November 2008, the membership list of the far-right British National Party was posted to WikiLeaks, after appearing briefly on a weblog.[142] A year later, on October 2009, another list of BNP members was leaked.[143]
You'll note that the first two items are about illiberal African leaders, and a later one is about Scientology, hardly a component of Western liberalism. As for the third, the Gitmo revelations, did the dissemination of those materials "harm Western liberalism"? I'd say that the harm to Western liberalism came because the U.S. military decided to lie to the public about whether it was allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross to have full access to the prison.
It's certainly true that various malefactors, including the U.S. government and the Democratic National Committee, would have better reputations if they had succeeded in keeping their misdeeds secret. My view, however, is that any reputational harm is the fault of the people in power who made the bad decisions, not the fault of the outsiders who exposed them. In 1973-74 I was rooting for Woodward and Bernstein, not for Nixon.
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I believe in what Manning set out to do. The way she did it was reckless though.
phleshdef
Jul 2016
#16
Would you have been alright with imprisoning Woodward and Bernstein as well as
R. Daneel Olivaw
Jul 2016
#40
Better to allow only an extremist possibility panting people who may disagree with you as merely aut
LanternWaste
Aug 2016
#78
Manning was just a criminal with access and placement that Assange took advantage of...
TipTok
Jul 2016
#18
I already pointed out that some materials are lacking. That doesn't show inaccuracy.
Jim Lane
Aug 2016
#69
If Wikileaks were to disappear tomorrow, someone else with more principles
geek tragedy
Aug 2016
#76
Keep in mind Wikileaks doesn't hack anyone direct, they just distribute what others hack
Lee-Lee
Aug 2016
#50
No doubt Assange is angry at the US. Fear of US pursuit of him drove him to refuge
HereSince1628
Aug 2016
#56