Special by Cristian Carlos
The recent decision by the US Department of Justice to prosecute the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, for espionage and solicitation of computer hacking represents a setback for the supposed freedom that the United States claims to have. It is not the first time WikiLeaks has been accused of crimes, but it is the first time that charges have been brought against a news organization. The most important thing about this case is that it shows how easy it is for the powerful to manipulate the law and silence their opponents.
In a democracy, there are two main ways to criticize or protest against a government's
government: through non-violent protests or through media exposure
communication. With the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States
United, we see a contradiction with the journalistic freedom of the country of “In God we trust.” The First Amendment of the United States protects journalists and whistleblowers from government persecution, and the extradition of Assange would undermine that protection by sending an unequivocal message that those who publish critical information—which must be known because it concerns their citizens, such as their spying—can be silenced.
In authoritarian regimes such as those in Russia and China, such acts are considered illegal and can lead to imprisonment or death. So what does the US intend to do with Julian Assange as a journalist if it succeeds in extraditing him? The pursuit of Assange shows how dangerous this situation can be. Not only was corruption at the top of the American elite – both business and political – and in other countries exposed, but it was also exposing corruption at lower levels. In other words, US “justice” wants revenge on Assange for “saying things” that threatened its own interests.
Assange, for those who don't know, is the founder of WikiLeaks, a global organization that publishes information through an online repository that has brought to light several scandals that could cause international incidents.
The group began rocking the Internet in 2010 and has since published more than 10 million documents. To name a few, WikiLeaks exposed a mass surveillance program called Prism that gave the U.S. government access to data from technology companies like Google and Microsoft; published thousands of State Department cables detailing U.S. diplomatic efforts around the world; and published information about the global financial crisis, helping people better understand the onset of the recession and the role Wall Street played in it. WikiLeaks’ work has led to numerous cases.
That same year, the group founded by Assange released a video showing footage of the massacre of Iraqi civilians by US soldiers. In 2013, it published hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world. The biggest scandal came with the leak of the Panama Papers in 2016, which uncovered evidence of tax evasion by wealthy individuals and companies around the world.
Its explosive release of thousands of classified documents has revealed the inner workings of some of the world’s most secretive institutions, including the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department. In 2012, after publishing diplomatic cables exposing U.S. surveillance programs, WikiLeaks won the right to an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by then-CBS news anchor Charlie Rose. The following year, it published more than 250,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee that exposed a wide range of unprofessional and unethical actions by party officials.
As a result, the Democratic National Committee had to remove several senior members of its leadership team over the email scandal. In October 2016, WikiLeaks published emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta showing him discussing how to undermine her rival Bernie Sanders by questioning his loyalty to the Democratic Party.
WikiLeaks is not only synonymous with document leaks, but also with activism, having been involved in several political campaigns. In 2010, for example, it worked with activists on a campaign to free political prisoners in Iceland. And in 2011, it played a key role in organizing protests against the former president of Kazakhstan, accused of corruption and human rights abuses. In 2017 alone, WikiLeaks published more than a million documents related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, that of Donald Trump.
The persecution of Assange and other journalists affiliated with WikiLeaks is a clear violation of their rights to freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of association. It also poses a direct threat to the safety of journalists around the world.
Silencing Assange and his colleagues will only embolden governments who would like nothing more than to silence any dissenting voice.
To protect Assange and all other journalists seeking to hold power to account, we must unite now. We cannot allow a small group of individuals with authoritarian tendencies to take advantage of this moment in history and silence those who are willing to speak truth to power. We must make our voices heard now, before it is too late.
As the preponderant nation in the Americas, the United States has a unique opportunity to lead by example when it comes to protecting the rights of journalists. By standing up for journalists around the world, we can send a strong message that those who challenge our government will not be silenced.
When governments withhold information, they are also censoring their citizens.
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