“To me, freedom of speech is something that represents the very dignity
of what a human being is… that’s what marks us off from the stones and stars.”
These are words spoken
by Mario Savio, the spokesperson for the Free Speech Movement in the 60’s. Decades
later, the power of free speech has surged onto the global stage and began reclaiming
the dignity of humanity.
We are now entering WikiLeaks 10
year anniversary. The organization registered their domain on October 4,
2006 and blazed into the public limelight in the spring of 2010 with the publication
of Collateral Murder.
This video footage depicted the cruel scenery of modern war seen from an
Apache helicopter gun-sight. It became an international sensation, with the
website temporarily crashing with the massive influx of visitors.
This stateless media organization, with no allegiance to any country and no
corporate or government money behind it, has published over 10 million documents.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains detained in the Ecuadorian embassy.
In an interview with Der Spiegel on 10 years of WikiLeaks, he gave
his view that the US diplomatic cables they published were the single most important
collection of documents, which are up to 3 million now.
Since its first publication on December 28, 2006, the effect of WikiLeaks has
been felt across the world. From the 2007 release of the
Kroll report on official corruption in Kenya that affected
the outcome of the national election, to the exposing of the moral bankruptcy
of Iceland’s largest bank in 2009, the information they revealed empowered
people and helped revitalize democracy in many countries.
By the end of 2010, WikiLeaks’ social and political impact became quite apparent.
An Amnesty International report in 2011 pointed
to the role of leaked documents in triggering revolutionary global uprisings.
The BBC documentary WikiLeaks:
Secret Life of a Superpower also attributed their revelations as a
spark for the Arab revolutions. On this 10 year celebration, we shall look back
the birth of WikiLeaks and examine its effect on freedom of speech around the
world.
Consent of the Governed
WikiLeaks started with a mission to open governments by releasing sensitive
and classified documents that belong to the public, which had been unjustifiably
kept secret. Early on, Assange saw
the existence of a network working in collaborative secrecy as detrimental to
all people. The concept of WikiLeaks can be seen as based on this analysis of
a hidden force of governance and leaks were used as a means to bring accountability
to those in power.
Assange recognized
how “people’s will to truth, love and self-realization” are pushed away by institutional
hierarchies. He gave a metaphorical picture of this force.
“When we look at an authoritarian conspiracy as a…