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Is WikiLeaks Nearing its Death Bed?
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 08 November 2011, 02:17 IST |
8 Comments
WikiLeaks redefined the effects of journalism and freedom of internet and press. While there won't be a dearth of takers for private information, leakers with such great access to information as WiliLeaks, would be hard to find. As the so-called guardians of democracy keep most of the details of their actions out of the public eye, WikiLeaks with its great levels of transparency and accountability, brought many of them to the public on which democracy is built upon. United Kingdom's decision to extradite Julian Assange to Sweden is seen as a serious blow to the Internet and press freedom.
"Julian's case is not related to Wikileaks. If it will be revealed that Sweden's decisions where stimulated by political agenda (for example influenced by US government) instead of law and justice, then the picture would change. So far this has not been proven so Julian's private case should be consider his private challenge until proven otherwise. Everything else is just wild speculation," Andreas Fink, CEO of DataCell ehf.
"I don't see the decision as related to press freedom per se, but given Assange's fame, it is of course not strange that many see the legal battles he is facing as directly related to his activities at WikiLeaks. I think, however, that it is a serious blow to the WikiLeaks organization. This legal case with Assange only does damage to WikiLeaks, and makes it more unlikely that people will be willing to use them as outlets for leaked information," opined Christian Christensen, Professor of Media & Communication Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.
"Sexual assault is a serious crime. If Assange is found guilty after a fair trial, then it would be just for him to be accountable for what he did, no matter what he has done for free expression. If he is found innocent, or he does not receive a fair trial, then the prosecution and extradition would have been a serious and unfair blow to WikiLeaks," said Richard Renner.
