The Paradox of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks

schnell writes "The New Statesman is publishing a new in-depth article that examines in detail the seemingly paradoxical nature of WikiLeaks' brave mission of public transparency with the private opaqueness of Julian Assange's leadership. On one hand, WikiLeaks created 'a transparency mechanism to hold governments and corporations to account' when nobody else could or would. On the other hand, WikiLeaks itself was 'guilty of the same obfuscation and misinformation as those it sought to expose, while its supporters are expected to follow, unquestioningly, in blinkered, cultish devotion.' If WikiLeaks performs a public service exposing the secrets of others but censors its own secrets, does it really matter? Or are the ethics of the organization and its leader inseparable?"

Comments

Re:Where is the balance?

[drinkypoo]

And I'll worry more about what the US government is doing when they have more competition. I want done what they are doing. If they're the only hope for freedom and security in the world, then I'm going back to them. If another, more credible hope appears, I'll back them instead.

Don't worry, Russia and China do the same things in the world that the US is doing. You know, interfering with democratic process, launching the occasional invasion or coup... You don't have to worry about the US having competition, it does.

Funny how you can use that argument to justify pretty much any irrationally held belief

Funny how you don't log in when you call me irrational. It's almost like you know you're full of shit, and don't want a record of how full of shit you are.