Wikileaks strikes again

“If the truth exposes evil wrong doing then it is always good.”

Is this the case here?

The not-for-profit organisation Wikileaks has raised its undercover head again recently, this time releasing thousands of documents on corruption allegations against politicians and the military in various nations. Unfortunately, due to their masks in various areas of the world, we have become more intrigued by who Wikileaks are rather than what they do. More often than not we are warned of classified documents being leaked, but how often do we read about what they have released in mainstream news? We are given lighter scraps of Wikileaks information by the press such as; Hilary Clinton has spies, Obama doesn’t like Europe and a member of the British Royal Family is supposed to have behaved inappropriately…. But how harmful is this anonymously sourced information?

Most leaks have come under ethical question or are on the borderline of national security breaches, in particular sensitive information published about wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So what about this time? News desks are exploding with headlines of “Worldwide diplomatic crisis” and “Wikipedia should be a ‘Terror Organisation’”, whilst the site itself is withstanding cyber attacks and earning its place on a number of Governments ‘banned websites’ list, such as Australia’s. One of the most damaging allegations in this set of leaks was that America was repeatedly urged to attack Iran by Saudi Arabia who wanted to ‘cut the head off the snake’ who they thought had nuclear weapons. So once again America’s in the spotlight, something many won’t be surprised about as it is, after all, the Anti-American direction Wikileaks has always been going towards.

I believe it is healthy to have a challenging cooperation such as Wikileaks to unbalance this increasingly supranational world and move us away from America’s starred and striped Halo and more towards Guantanamo detainment and treatment of Iraqi soldiers. The reason I call it healthy is because we should not be hidden from an opposing view, we should not be hidden from the answers and the truth. Like any situation of this scale however, there is a line which needs to be defined before the information will be the catalyst to major future problems which could sabotage international relationships and cause future conflict. 

But it has to be said it is ironic that Wikileaks calls for transparency in Worldwide Governments and Organisations, yet remains unclear itself. They are able to stay unknown as Internet anonymity is guaranteed in Sweden where they are apparently based, and there have been several claims of fake content being accepted by the ‘whistleblowers’… something which will lead anyone to question their credibility. But inevitably the information supplied is undoubtedly of worldwide relevance.

Some choose to call the site the future of investigative journalism, reporters bringing to light issues that we’d otherwise not know about, listing secret information which shouldn’t be tolerated in a democratic society. Why not lay it all out bare and let us have a look for ourselves? Or will that be too much for us ignorant civilians to handle? Perhaps this is why the BBC, Guardian, and other major news organisations have censored a number of articles and recordings from Wikileaks that have mysteriously disappeared from the archives.

How will this new model of journalism develop in an ever-intrigued world? Has the internet allowed a way for important information to be passed freely to those who it concerns most… is that everyone?