This paper examines WikiLeaks as a non-profit organization dedicated to exposing classified information and government accountability through anonymous whistleblowing. It traces the background of founder Julian Assange, documents major releases including the "Collateral Murder" video and diplomatic cables, and analyzes the ethical dilemmas raised by WikiLeaks' operations. The paper applies ethical frameworks—utilitarianism, deontology, character-based, and contract-based ethics—to evaluate WikiLeaks' actions. The author argues that while WikiLeaks' core mission of transparency serves an important purpose, its execution requires sustainable methods, clearer guidelines to prevent harm to informants, and separation of organizational ideals from personal conflicts.
WikiLeaks is a non-profit organization that utilizes its website wikileaks.org to provide leaked news information. Leaked information is data and stories that were either purposefully not mentioned or covered up from the public eye. This information is submitted anonymously to protect the source, as WikiLeaks seeks to encourage and ensure all news is being exposed. Their mission is to protect the freedom of speech and media publishing by providing an avenue through which anonymous sources can securely provide their leaked information. WikiLeaks states that "publishing improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people."
WikiLeaks takes pride in its system for receiving information from anonymous sources. The organization works hard to ensure it does not identify who its sources are in order to protect their anonymity. Using a drop box system fortified by cryptographic information technologies and distributing their servers—which keep no logs—across multiple international jurisdictions, WikiLeaks safeguards its sources' identity. Once information is received, WikiLeaks journalists verify it, and if authentic, post an article on their website. The organization prefers to post unedited and uncensored information, believing that transparency creates a better society. As WikiLeaks explains, "By making the documents freely available, we hope to expand analysis and comment by all the media. Most of all, we want readers to know the truth so they can make up their own minds." WikiLeaks has been credited with releasing more classified intelligence documents than the combined world press.
Julian Assange was born in Townsville, Australia in summer 1971. He moved frequently with his mother, attending nearly 40 different schools growing up and being homeschooled at times. Before WikiLeaks, Assange used his high intelligence to hack into numerous high-profile organizations. In 1991, he broke into the master terminal for Nortel and was charged with over 30 counts of hacking in Australia. Assange continued his career in computer programming and software development, and he studied mathematics at the University of Melbourne. However, he dropped out without obtaining his degree, stating he left for moral reasons: "Assange objected to other students working on computer projects for the military." In 2006, he began work on the WikiLeaks project.
With WikiLeaks' success, Assange made increasingly public appearances. However, the organization's prominence led to legal battles, and Assange soon faced personal legal problems related to two sexual assault cases. This situation eventually forced Assange to take refuge in Ecuador's embassy, where he believed he could otherwise face "political persecution or be sent to the United States to face the death penalty."
WikiLeaks is the product of many ideas but concentrated guidance from its founder, Julian Assange. In 2008 and 2009, WikiLeaks released its first two major stories. WikiLeaks exposed Julius Baer, a Swiss bank, for money laundering by posting internal documents that revealed the bank's role in helping clients launder funds via the Cayman Islands. The organization also released an archive of text pager messages recorded on the day the United States was attacked on September 11th.
In April 2010, WikiLeaks released a video titled "Collateral Murder" showing a 2007 US military helicopter strike in Baghdad and the resulting civilian casualties. The video captured soldiers "laughing at the dead after launching an air strike that killed a dozen people, including two Iraqis working for Reuters news agency." Further details from the video revealed: "One of the helicopter crew is heard wishing for the [wounded] man to reach for a gun. A van draws up next to the wounded man and Iraqis climb out. They are unarmed and start to carry the victim to the vehicle in what would appear to be an attempt to get him to hospital. One of the helicopters opens fire with armor-piercing shells, and sitting behind the windscreen were two children who were wounded." Video responses from families of the killed civilians, posted on various blogs, called for international action. The Pentagon expressed concern that the whistleblower website posed a threat to national security.
It was later discovered that Bradley Manning, an American soldier and intelligence analyst stationed at Forward Operating Base Hammer in Iraq, had leaked the video. Manning had amassed information including war logs about Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, private cables from the State Department, and assessments of Guantanamo prisoners. Manning was apprehended after confiding in hacker Adrian Lamo about his gender identity and the leaks. Concerned about potential endangerment, Lamo contacted the Defense Department, leading to Manning's arrest in May 2010.
In July 2010, WikiLeaks released classified US military documents related to the Afghanistan war, containing information on civilian victims and links between Pakistan and the Taliban. Two months later, in August, Julian Assange received an arrest warrant from the Swedish court on charges of rape involving two Swedish women who were former WikiLeaks employees. The warrant was suspended until November.
In October 2010, WikiLeaks released approximately 400,000 accounts spanning five years that revealed how the US ignored cases of torture by Iraqi authorities against civilians. When November arrived and the Swedish prosecutor reissued Assange's arrest warrant, ten days later WikiLeaks released "classified US diplomatic cables, revealing assessments of American officials on a range of issues together with views of other governments." Over the next nine months, twenty thousand cables were disclosed, with releases continuing beyond that period.
In August 2011, WikiLeaks released more than 120,000 of its cached diplomatic cables with little to no redactions to protect the identity of informants and individuals who could be endangered by their release. The release of these cables damaged the working relationship between WikiLeaks and The Guardian, as WikiLeaks blamed the publication for failing to redact sensitive information. The Guardian defended itself by stating they had called on WikiLeaks "not to carry through its plan to release unredacted state department cables."
In December 2011, Assange handed himself in but was released on bail days later. Assange told the media that the rape allegations were part of a politically motivated campaign, though no evidence supported this claim. Assange dismissed three allegations of sexual assault and one allegation of rape in February 2012, with legal proceedings continuing for years afterward. He was eventually granted asylum in Ecuador and lived in the embassy, with officials warning they would arrest him in summer 2012.
The combination of WikiLeaks' existence and the actions and very public presence of its founder Julian Assange raise several ethical dilemmas affecting nearly everyone. These dilemmas center on the cause and effect of WikiLeaks' and Assange's actions. On the positive side, Assange operates with a belief in transparency of those in power and the protection of individual privacy. He and his company believe that only through transparency can government and corporations be just, uncorrupt, and serve people properly.
However, there are negative consequences to this position. Exposing documents that could harm individuals can be seen as wrong and unjust. WikiLeaks was built on the principle that if physical harm or death could come to parties involved with the leaks, necessary redactions would be made. Yet when releasing classified documents from Bradley Manning, very few redactions were made. Both sides of this argument are actively debated. According to Karhula in "What is the effect of WikiLeaks for Freedom of Information," civil rights organizations are divided on WikiLeaks' actions. While many agree on the value of WikiLeaks in indicating violations of human rights and civil liberties, "the leaks of diplomatic cables made some civil rights organizations and activists back off with their full support for WikiLeaks." Some organizations accused WikiLeaks of being irresponsible, as they likely caused further harm to informants named in the cables.
WikiLeaks' actions affect almost everyone. Obviously, those WikiLeaks exposes are affected for better or worse. The general public is also affected, though the degree varies. Some do not support WikiLeaks; others support it despite questionable ethical standing. When Assange accused the Swedish women filing sexual assault charges of being part of a political conspiracy, the situation became ironic. There was no evidence these women wanted anything but a drug test from Assange; in fact, they gave him many chances to comply. Instead, Assange seemed to concoct an accusation that they were part of a government conspiracy to bring him down.
"Utilitarian, deontological, character-based, and contract-based ethics analysis"
"Sustainable structures, government oversight, institutional guidelines, public responsibility"
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